I was thinking back to my last post. I have not entered anything since Aug. A month after that posting I stopped drinking. That is going very well. I am pleased.
Now, on to the movies. I keep this up to date daily. These are my favorites with xxxx or xxxxx for each:
The Adventures of Robin Hood; AI; All About Eve; Angel Heart; Apocalypse Now; Armagheddon; Arthur; Beautiful Joe; The Big Sleep; The Birds, though I don't usually like such scary films; Blade. I REALLY like good stories about vampires; Bladerunner; Bound for Glory, about one of our most influential folk singers, Woodie Guthrie; Braveheart; Breaker Morant; A Bronx Tale, with Robert DeNiro; Brother Sun, Sister Moon; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which was a play first but the movie with Paul Newman was simply excellent; The Caveman's Valentine by one of our finest black actors, Samuel Jackson; Chelsea Walls; Chocolat, one of my top 9 films. I rated it xxxx-xxxxx; Citizen Kane; The Color of Money and The Hustler, the first in the pair of films; The Crow; Dances With Wolves, a lavishly produced film with Kevin Costner; The Deer Hunter, a disturbing but excellent film; Desparate Hours; Dirty Dancing, a fine film indeed; several of the Dirty Harry movies; Doctor Zhivago, an xxxxx film. I read the book too by Boris Pasternak; Down in the Delta; Dune, xxxxx, one of my top 4 films of all times; Easy Rider, early hippie film; E. T. , a wonderful film; Fearless; Field of Dreams; Fight Club; For the Love of the Game; The Four Feathers; Frankenstein, the Boris Karlof 1931 version; The French Connection with Gene Hackman; All of the Godfather films; Goodbye Mr. Chips; Good Will Hunting, an excellent flick with Matt Damon and Robin Williams; The Greatest Show on Earth; Heartbreakers; Hell is for Heros; High Noon; Humoresque; The Incident; Indiana Jones, I love adventure shows; In the Heat of the Night; The Insider; It Happened One Night; Its a Wonderful Life; Jaws; Laura; Lolita; Lord of the Rings series; Lost Horizon; MASH; Mirage; Oh Brother, Where Art Thou; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I did this play twice and read the book.; Out of the Past; Papillon; Patton, this one is xxxxx rated, one of my 4 favorites; Peter Pan; Places in the Heart; Pretty Woman; Protocol; Raiders of the Lost Ark; Rainman; Random Harvest; The Recruit; Red Corner; Red Dragon; Remember the Titans, the finest sports film I recall; Resurrection, xxxxx, one of my top 4, maybe THE favorite one; Rocky; The Rookie; The Scarlett Pimpernel; Secretary; Silence of the Lambs; Simone; Snow White, the original; The Sound of Music, xxxxx one of my top 4; Star Trek, Nemisis; The Sting; Sum of All Fears; A Summer Place, a very early favorite; Tarzan; Terminator; To Kill a Mockingbird; Top Gun; Twelve O'Clock High; 2001 a Space Odessy; The Verdict; Warlock; The Whale Rider, a VERY sweet film in the end; What Dreams May Come; What Women Want; The Wizard of Oz, an early xxxxx favorite; Woodstock, early rock and roll film. Resurrection and Brother Sun, Sister Moon were among my xxxxx.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Take News Commentators, PLEASE
Take News Commentators, PLEASE
by
Robin Hall
I cannot understand why Hardball and its ilk are so popular. This sort of show seems to usually be mean-spirited Republicans, from religious backgrounds, pablum-izing news of the day for less intelligent folks.
The commentators get some pretty fabulous salaries to do this too. Essentially, in my view, they are a news version of a preacher.
The audience is likely to made up of churchgoers who are used to having much of their lives spoon fed to them from the pulpit. No one has to think for themselves about how to run their own lives.
The preachers tell the congregation how and what to think: what is OK in the way of birth control, abortion and most social issues etc.
And is it any wonder the world's population is so out of control? The catholic church needs to work on this.
Religionists are just used to not needing to think for themselves on science either. I mean really, creationism?
Along come the news commentators. They do EXACTLY as the preachers so their flocks don't have to think either.
Hmm. I am suspicious. Has the church taken over this segment of the news and neglected to tell anyone?
Now I like news shows at times. In the UK people like Peter Jennings are called newsreaders. He was my favorite here. He was a host and newsreader for the evening news.
His sort had usually been in the field as reporters first. They get a promotion to the nightly news, make more money and give us a focused version of the day's happenings from the standpoint of a field reporter.
I was there sort of thing. And they were. Maybe a different disaster, war etc. but they were there.
CNN has dozens of these highly trained and competent reporters on staff. Fox news does too as do the major networks.
How many of the news commentators were there? Did anyone ask them? Does anyone care?
There are other sorts of news programs that are useful.
Nightline gave us extended news. It was not pablum. It was longer stories of pertinent news.
Another kind of news is highly trained interviewers expanding the news by going to the source. They usually keep their egos in check and tease out news that no one else might know of. There are several fine interviewers on Sunday morning for instance.
These interviewers and news readers perform a service for us. They give us news and let us make up our own minds.
News commentators usually DO have an agenda, don't want us to think and their egos are often the only reason they even have a show. Perhaps they really are just news preachers.
There are other sorts of news and views shows on TV and radio. I particularly appreciate the interviewing skills of Larry King. Here is a fellow who gets the widest range of guests of anyone on TV. He can almost disappear, ego-wise, and draw out interesting things from about anyone.
Has anyone noticed however that so many of the commentators and interviewers have seriously shady dealings from time to time, sort of like TV preachers?
'Nuf said.
by
Robin Hall
I cannot understand why Hardball and its ilk are so popular. This sort of show seems to usually be mean-spirited Republicans, from religious backgrounds, pablum-izing news of the day for less intelligent folks.
The commentators get some pretty fabulous salaries to do this too. Essentially, in my view, they are a news version of a preacher.
The audience is likely to made up of churchgoers who are used to having much of their lives spoon fed to them from the pulpit. No one has to think for themselves about how to run their own lives.
The preachers tell the congregation how and what to think: what is OK in the way of birth control, abortion and most social issues etc.
And is it any wonder the world's population is so out of control? The catholic church needs to work on this.
Religionists are just used to not needing to think for themselves on science either. I mean really, creationism?
Along come the news commentators. They do EXACTLY as the preachers so their flocks don't have to think either.
Hmm. I am suspicious. Has the church taken over this segment of the news and neglected to tell anyone?
Now I like news shows at times. In the UK people like Peter Jennings are called newsreaders. He was my favorite here. He was a host and newsreader for the evening news.
His sort had usually been in the field as reporters first. They get a promotion to the nightly news, make more money and give us a focused version of the day's happenings from the standpoint of a field reporter.
I was there sort of thing. And they were. Maybe a different disaster, war etc. but they were there.
CNN has dozens of these highly trained and competent reporters on staff. Fox news does too as do the major networks.
How many of the news commentators were there? Did anyone ask them? Does anyone care?
There are other sorts of news programs that are useful.
Nightline gave us extended news. It was not pablum. It was longer stories of pertinent news.
Another kind of news is highly trained interviewers expanding the news by going to the source. They usually keep their egos in check and tease out news that no one else might know of. There are several fine interviewers on Sunday morning for instance.
These interviewers and news readers perform a service for us. They give us news and let us make up our own minds.
News commentators usually DO have an agenda, don't want us to think and their egos are often the only reason they even have a show. Perhaps they really are just news preachers.
There are other sorts of news and views shows on TV and radio. I particularly appreciate the interviewing skills of Larry King. Here is a fellow who gets the widest range of guests of anyone on TV. He can almost disappear, ego-wise, and draw out interesting things from about anyone.
Has anyone noticed however that so many of the commentators and interviewers have seriously shady dealings from time to time, sort of like TV preachers?
'Nuf said.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Santafucking Claus, Angels and All Things Holy
Santafucking Claus, Angels and All Things Holy
by
Robin Hall
I tried to watch Angels in the Backfield though it was a kids movie. Angels and stuff. I won't make that misnake/sic again.
We are shitting on our children when we bring up this sort of otherworldly hope. We live in a world that does not support hope, what with some spirit in the sky which is going to make everything OK, angels which will guide us, santafucking claus who will bring us presents BUT ONLY IF WE ARE NICE, easterfuckingbunnies with modest chocolate treats etc.
AND these are only the myths in the US. I cannot imagine the sillinesses of other cultures.
Something is wrong here. Why do we perpetrate this sort of thing ON our children?
I absolutely recall the day my mother told me there was no santafuckingclaus. I was washing up in the bathroom. She sat me down on the commode with its seat down.
"There is no santa." I was the oldest kid in my class who didn't know. My fucking mother and grandparents had been lying to me for a decade. No fuckingsanta. Is it a wonder I never learned to trust anyone?
Ever.
I tried too.
Ever.
Why do progenitors feel the need to lie to their offspring? Fess up all you parents and quit lying to your kids about santafuckingclaus, some spirit in the sky, the easter bunny and all the bullshit present in other cultures.
Why is truth so hard to deal with? You cannot tell your own family truth where IS truth?
Etc.
by
Robin Hall
I tried to watch Angels in the Backfield though it was a kids movie. Angels and stuff. I won't make that misnake/sic again.
We are shitting on our children when we bring up this sort of otherworldly hope. We live in a world that does not support hope, what with some spirit in the sky which is going to make everything OK, angels which will guide us, santafucking claus who will bring us presents BUT ONLY IF WE ARE NICE, easterfuckingbunnies with modest chocolate treats etc.
AND these are only the myths in the US. I cannot imagine the sillinesses of other cultures.
Something is wrong here. Why do we perpetrate this sort of thing ON our children?
I absolutely recall the day my mother told me there was no santafuckingclaus. I was washing up in the bathroom. She sat me down on the commode with its seat down.
"There is no santa." I was the oldest kid in my class who didn't know. My fucking mother and grandparents had been lying to me for a decade. No fuckingsanta. Is it a wonder I never learned to trust anyone?
Ever.
I tried too.
Ever.
Why do progenitors feel the need to lie to their offspring? Fess up all you parents and quit lying to your kids about santafuckingclaus, some spirit in the sky, the easter bunny and all the bullshit present in other cultures.
Why is truth so hard to deal with? You cannot tell your own family truth where IS truth?
Etc.
Say You Had Someone, Who Lied
Say You Had Someone, Who Lied
by
Robin Hall
3+ years back I had a companion in this low rent public housing I live in. The situation was ideal. She lived on the same floor, about 50' away. Nice for anyone in public housing.
We spent 2-3 months "in love." We shared food, time, intimacy. Emotions were expressed, never ending emotions like, " I don't want to live without you. "
Two days after this expression from her, essentially, I never heard from her again. WTF?
Over the next year she would lie to me many times, "come back." She cheated on me, stole from me too.
She already had another man in the interim however.
One day she visited after a hormone shot. She pulled up her shirt and bra and said, "Look, they've grown."
Another day, she brought me a dildo. She leaned against the door jam proactively with a bag in her hand and said she bought me something. I told her I didn't want anything from her in my place.
"You will like it." I looked at the bag and knew what it was. She said, "I went to a sex club and bought it for you."
I did not take it, she went away in a huff.
Almost a year later a friend of hers told me more. Debbie had found a lover in AL while we were still together. More lovers. She had PROMISED me she would never be with someone while she and I were together.
Then she left here to move in with with her older friend's son to OH.
There are no guarantees in love, like or lust. We try, is the best that can be said. If THEY are lying, well, we get lied to. End of lesson.
There are NO lessons in how to observe lying. How to stop it. How to get away from it. How to prevent it. How to keep it from breaking your heart.
People who lie are not smarter than their victims. Likely they do have more practice. DANGER.
by
Robin Hall
3+ years back I had a companion in this low rent public housing I live in. The situation was ideal. She lived on the same floor, about 50' away. Nice for anyone in public housing.
We spent 2-3 months "in love." We shared food, time, intimacy. Emotions were expressed, never ending emotions like, " I don't want to live without you. "
Two days after this expression from her, essentially, I never heard from her again. WTF?
Over the next year she would lie to me many times, "come back." She cheated on me, stole from me too.
She already had another man in the interim however.
One day she visited after a hormone shot. She pulled up her shirt and bra and said, "Look, they've grown."
Another day, she brought me a dildo. She leaned against the door jam proactively with a bag in her hand and said she bought me something. I told her I didn't want anything from her in my place.
"You will like it." I looked at the bag and knew what it was. She said, "I went to a sex club and bought it for you."
I did not take it, she went away in a huff.
Almost a year later a friend of hers told me more. Debbie had found a lover in AL while we were still together. More lovers. She had PROMISED me she would never be with someone while she and I were together.
Then she left here to move in with with her older friend's son to OH.
There are no guarantees in love, like or lust. We try, is the best that can be said. If THEY are lying, well, we get lied to. End of lesson.
There are NO lessons in how to observe lying. How to stop it. How to get away from it. How to prevent it. How to keep it from breaking your heart.
People who lie are not smarter than their victims. Likely they do have more practice. DANGER.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Say You Had Someone, Who Lied
Say You Had Someone, Who Lied
by
Robin Hall
3+ years back I had a companion in this low rent public housing I live in. The situation was ideal. She lived on the same floor, about 50' away. Nice for anyone in public housing.
We spent 2-3 months "in love." We shared food, time, bed. Emotions were expressed, never ending emotions like, " I don't want to live without you. "
Two days after this expression from her, essentially, I never heard from her again. WTF?
Over the next year she would lie to me again, "come back."
One day she visited after a hormone shot. She pulled up her shirt and said, "Look, they've grown."
Another day, she brought me a dildo. She leaned against the door jam proactively with a bag in her hand and said she bought me something. I told her I didn't want anything from her in my place. "You will like it." I looked at the bag. She said, "I went to a sex club and bought it for you."
I did not take it, she went away in a huff.
Almost a year later a friend of her's told me more. Debbie had found a lover in AL while we were still together. More lovers. She had promised me she would NEVER be with someone while she and I were lovers.
Then she ran off / moved with this older friend's son to OH.
There are no guarantees in love, like or lust. We try, is the best that can be said. If THEY are lying, well, we get lied to. End of lesson.
There are NO lessons in how to observe lying. How to stop it. How to get away from it. How to prevent it.
People who lie are not smarter than their victims. Likely they do have more practice. DANGER.
by
Robin Hall
3+ years back I had a companion in this low rent public housing I live in. The situation was ideal. She lived on the same floor, about 50' away. Nice for anyone in public housing.
We spent 2-3 months "in love." We shared food, time, bed. Emotions were expressed, never ending emotions like, " I don't want to live without you. "
Two days after this expression from her, essentially, I never heard from her again. WTF?
Over the next year she would lie to me again, "come back."
One day she visited after a hormone shot. She pulled up her shirt and said, "Look, they've grown."
Another day, she brought me a dildo. She leaned against the door jam proactively with a bag in her hand and said she bought me something. I told her I didn't want anything from her in my place. "You will like it." I looked at the bag. She said, "I went to a sex club and bought it for you."
I did not take it, she went away in a huff.
Almost a year later a friend of her's told me more. Debbie had found a lover in AL while we were still together. More lovers. She had promised me she would NEVER be with someone while she and I were lovers.
Then she ran off / moved with this older friend's son to OH.
There are no guarantees in love, like or lust. We try, is the best that can be said. If THEY are lying, well, we get lied to. End of lesson.
There are NO lessons in how to observe lying. How to stop it. How to get away from it. How to prevent it.
People who lie are not smarter than their victims. Likely they do have more practice. DANGER.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Redundancies in Government
Redundancies in Government
by
Robin Hall
This has confused me for decades, so many of the various government agencies doing about the same thing.
CIA / FBI / NSA for instance. Now the point of each of these, with the very well paid TOP DOGs in each agency, seems to be protecting the USA.
I fully support the USA being protected but do we need three agencies with well paid directors and sub directors doing this? Why not have one agency? One well paid director, less well paid sub directors and one point, protecting the USA?
Take the military, please.
I don't know the whole bit but there seems to be an Army, an Air Force, a Navy, a Marine Corps, a Coast Guard, a Merchant Marine and who knows what else?
Could even one of you STATE we need as many generals or admirals as we have in comparison to working, qualified majors or commanders? In comparison to the number of qualified, working E6 ratings?
Why do each of the combative services have their own flight training programs with attendant upper level generals who are paid more than the pilots? Flying is flying.
Really, is flying for the Army different from flying for the Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard?
Further, each of the combative services has their own "special forces." Why?
We have some seriously kick-ass fellows out there protecting us but do we need so many special schools, with their own well paid directors, training SEALS, recon Marines, Air Force and Army Rangers and who knows what else like Delta Force and maybe the President's Man?
In civil service there are the well paid top dogs in police and firefighting. The heroes of these departments always deserve our respect but does there need to be two well paid top dogs helping us? Why not one with decently paid underlings?
Consider other civil servants. For instance public housing's dozens of bureaus. Who is served here except the top dogs with their expanded salaries?
Take all those czars some moron came up with like a drug czar. What is that? Does the USA want even a single czar? We tried to trash the Russians who suffered under czars. Do we want czars?
That sort of thing. Duplications in government that are top heavy in management and salaries and simply duplicates in actions. I vote that we prune duplications NOW.
Pare our government to the bone. EVERYONE of us citizens will benefit at the bank with less taxes EXCEPT the top dogs in the duplication bureacracies.
by
Robin Hall
This has confused me for decades, so many of the various government agencies doing about the same thing.
CIA / FBI / NSA for instance. Now the point of each of these, with the very well paid TOP DOGs in each agency, seems to be protecting the USA.
I fully support the USA being protected but do we need three agencies with well paid directors and sub directors doing this? Why not have one agency? One well paid director, less well paid sub directors and one point, protecting the USA?
Take the military, please.
I don't know the whole bit but there seems to be an Army, an Air Force, a Navy, a Marine Corps, a Coast Guard, a Merchant Marine and who knows what else?
Could even one of you STATE we need as many generals or admirals as we have in comparison to working, qualified majors or commanders? In comparison to the number of qualified, working E6 ratings?
Why do each of the combative services have their own flight training programs with attendant upper level generals who are paid more than the pilots? Flying is flying.
Really, is flying for the Army different from flying for the Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard?
Further, each of the combative services has their own "special forces." Why?
We have some seriously kick-ass fellows out there protecting us but do we need so many special schools, with their own well paid directors, training SEALS, recon Marines, Air Force and Army Rangers and who knows what else like Delta Force and maybe the President's Man?
In civil service there are the well paid top dogs in police and firefighting. The heroes of these departments always deserve our respect but does there need to be two well paid top dogs helping us? Why not one with decently paid underlings?
Consider other civil servants. For instance public housing's dozens of bureaus. Who is served here except the top dogs with their expanded salaries?
Take all those czars some moron came up with like a drug czar. What is that? Does the USA want even a single czar? We tried to trash the Russians who suffered under czars. Do we want czars?
That sort of thing. Duplications in government that are top heavy in management and salaries and simply duplicates in actions. I vote that we prune duplications NOW.
Pare our government to the bone. EVERYONE of us citizens will benefit at the bank with less taxes EXCEPT the top dogs in the duplication bureacracies.
Kidnappings
Kidnappings
by
Robin Hall
Daily there are listings or threats in the news of kidnappings by muslim religionists.
Daily there are NO listings in the news of kidnappings by atheists.
Daily there are no listings or threats of kidnappings by America or its allies OF muslims.
America and its allies don't blow themselves up to further their religion, or views. No suicide bombings originate in America.
We don't EVER hear about moderate muslim religionists blowing up the more radical ones, the ones perverted by those madrasas to save the rest of the world.
What can we learn here? We need to learn something here and we need to learn it NOW.
Daily we in countries not run by muslims are now at risk from muslims. So-called moderate muslims don't want to control their own radical elements. What are we to do?
I think we should encourage normal muslims to police their own perverted elements.
We should seek out these madrasas and put the leaders in prison, perhaps too the poor students who have been there more than a year.
The youngest students MIGHT be retrained and returned to their own society and we can hope they are not too damaged to be decent citizens once more: get a job, do the best they can.
by
Robin Hall
Daily there are listings or threats in the news of kidnappings by muslim religionists.
Daily there are NO listings in the news of kidnappings by atheists.
Daily there are no listings or threats of kidnappings by America or its allies OF muslims.
America and its allies don't blow themselves up to further their religion, or views. No suicide bombings originate in America.
We don't EVER hear about moderate muslim religionists blowing up the more radical ones, the ones perverted by those madrasas to save the rest of the world.
What can we learn here? We need to learn something here and we need to learn it NOW.
Daily we in countries not run by muslims are now at risk from muslims. So-called moderate muslims don't want to control their own radical elements. What are we to do?
I think we should encourage normal muslims to police their own perverted elements.
We should seek out these madrasas and put the leaders in prison, perhaps too the poor students who have been there more than a year.
The youngest students MIGHT be retrained and returned to their own society and we can hope they are not too damaged to be decent citizens once more: get a job, do the best they can.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Oy, Comments
Oy, Comments
by
Robin Hall
This is sad for me. A wo/man or corporation commented on an article here. I like comments and have posted all of them until now. There are only a tiny few total. This one seemed like spam.
IF the author had given me a way to send email, I would have published the note. I went to the website and there were no email links to verify intent.
It seemed to be, basically a STATEMENT that ANYONE could overcome depression or anything else IF they signed up for their workshops etc. The foolishness of this almost made me laugh, almost.
There have been so MANY folks of this ilk, so very many workshops without research to back up their claims.
Recall, Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh and his squeeze Sushila, or L. Ron Hubbard?
And have any of you understood the real co$t$ involved in their MANY programs? Do think about it. Poor folks are simply NOT welcome.
If you don't believe this and you have gotten "clear" with scientology or managed the to finish ANY of the other programs, was the person next to you living in public housing, on disability, on SSI? Even one? Even ONE homeless who could have most benefited IF the claims were true? Even ONE?
Transcendental Meditation is included in this. Did they let EVEN ONE homeless person finish their siddha program, flying, walking through walls etc.? Even ONE?
It seemed to be the worst sort of spam since I could not even email the person, dialog and then post, IF the comment was real, not spam. My few readers could make up their own minds of course but I won't publish spam.
I am sorry that I did not wish to post this comment. IF I could have inquired with the author, I would have more information and perhaps post what s/he said AND comments.
I cannot do this.
Comments here do NOT have to be positive, just real, verifiable and not spam.
by
Robin Hall
This is sad for me. A wo/man or corporation commented on an article here. I like comments and have posted all of them until now. There are only a tiny few total. This one seemed like spam.
IF the author had given me a way to send email, I would have published the note. I went to the website and there were no email links to verify intent.
It seemed to be, basically a STATEMENT that ANYONE could overcome depression or anything else IF they signed up for their workshops etc. The foolishness of this almost made me laugh, almost.
There have been so MANY folks of this ilk, so very many workshops without research to back up their claims.
Recall, Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh and his squeeze Sushila, or L. Ron Hubbard?
And have any of you understood the real co$t$ involved in their MANY programs? Do think about it. Poor folks are simply NOT welcome.
If you don't believe this and you have gotten "clear" with scientology or managed the to finish ANY of the other programs, was the person next to you living in public housing, on disability, on SSI? Even one? Even ONE homeless who could have most benefited IF the claims were true? Even ONE?
Transcendental Meditation is included in this. Did they let EVEN ONE homeless person finish their siddha program, flying, walking through walls etc.? Even ONE?
It seemed to be the worst sort of spam since I could not even email the person, dialog and then post, IF the comment was real, not spam. My few readers could make up their own minds of course but I won't publish spam.
I am sorry that I did not wish to post this comment. IF I could have inquired with the author, I would have more information and perhaps post what s/he said AND comments.
I cannot do this.
Comments here do NOT have to be positive, just real, verifiable and not spam.
No Best Friend?
No Best Friend?
by
Robin Hall
All my life I wanted a best friend. Some of my friends likely tried. I likely tried too. I did my best. They did their best and I had one for some years as a child but not since then.
I am guessing I was incapable, early on, of forming close attachments. Later doctors discovered or diagnosed me and I am thinking there were parts of the illnesses at a very young age.
Read my back blogs. I am seriously damaged with depression, OCD, anxiety and their cousin personality defects. I am also a 35 oz. a day vodka drunk.
I wonder how far back the depression syndrome started that my earlier friends and I didn't ever and forever blend and become "best friends?"
There were some great guys and gals too. I tried. They tried. I cried. Love died.
Second tier friends was the best that ever happened for long for me. Briefly, best friends, briefly. Second tier friends ongoing or not.
In each case, I regret my inability to commit to being BEST FRIENDS. Maybe I DID commit but I was incapable. Maybe no one liked me enough.
Its sad, not being capable of being / having a best friend due to an illness no one could cure, few even knew about. No one understood. Sad.
I am not alone here. Look within. Something similar happened to many of you.
What can we do, if anything, other than having second tier friends who stayed with us or first tiers who gave up on us?
Maybe second tiers we keep trying with, and them knowing what happened. They kept trying too and there is value. Love as best there can be for us, the seriously damaged.
Its tricky. Its the best we can do.
Pain, tolerance and acceptance is what happens.
I have to settle for this.
My very own family did MUCH less. My friends did MUCH more.
Some friends are still around. Most bailed.
My family is not around. Isn't that sad, the family is not around?
Blood, in my experience, is much thinner than water.
There was a blood connection for me, at one time. It faded due to death of the primaries. It dies due to inconvenience for the less committed. Blood is thinner than water. MUCH thinner for many of us.
by
Robin Hall
All my life I wanted a best friend. Some of my friends likely tried. I likely tried too. I did my best. They did their best and I had one for some years as a child but not since then.
I am guessing I was incapable, early on, of forming close attachments. Later doctors discovered or diagnosed me and I am thinking there were parts of the illnesses at a very young age.
Read my back blogs. I am seriously damaged with depression, OCD, anxiety and their cousin personality defects. I am also a 35 oz. a day vodka drunk.
I wonder how far back the depression syndrome started that my earlier friends and I didn't ever and forever blend and become "best friends?"
There were some great guys and gals too. I tried. They tried. I cried. Love died.
Second tier friends was the best that ever happened for long for me. Briefly, best friends, briefly. Second tier friends ongoing or not.
In each case, I regret my inability to commit to being BEST FRIENDS. Maybe I DID commit but I was incapable. Maybe no one liked me enough.
Its sad, not being capable of being / having a best friend due to an illness no one could cure, few even knew about. No one understood. Sad.
I am not alone here. Look within. Something similar happened to many of you.
What can we do, if anything, other than having second tier friends who stayed with us or first tiers who gave up on us?
Maybe second tiers we keep trying with, and them knowing what happened. They kept trying too and there is value. Love as best there can be for us, the seriously damaged.
Its tricky. Its the best we can do.
Pain, tolerance and acceptance is what happens.
I have to settle for this.
My very own family did MUCH less. My friends did MUCH more.
Some friends are still around. Most bailed.
My family is not around. Isn't that sad, the family is not around?
Blood, in my experience, is much thinner than water.
There was a blood connection for me, at one time. It faded due to death of the primaries. It dies due to inconvenience for the less committed. Blood is thinner than water. MUCH thinner for many of us.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
More Things That Don't Make Sense To Me
More Things That Don't Make Sense To Me
by
Robin Hall
This will be updated as long as my life makes less and less sense. I have no idea why any of the following exist AT ALL. If you have other ideas, do drop me a line and I will add them, with full credit, or maybe you can blog them on your space.
1. A-cup bras. Really, what is going on other than the bra makers are scamming their customers?
2. Crotchless panties. The most logical use of underwear, to me, is for sanitary purposes. After a bathroom experience there is a chance of a drop of some liquid. Cotton works well here. Shear synthetics do not. Crotchless panties really do not.
If you are up for unexpected sex, go without drawers. Problem solved and more power to you, like in the sea grapes on Lantana Beach with Phyllis.
3. If a man can afford bespoke clothing: "What side do you dress to?" is pretty silly under 6". Be honest with your tailor.
4. Now this one is so outrageous it makes me mad. Why would anyone drink caffeine free diet soda? Duh. Water.
5. Cleavage annoys me. Not having it of course, but displaying it THEN chastising people who look and its not just men.
6. I think women's fashion and clothes are so often demeaning. Its like just being a woman makes them beauty objects, not equal people who dress funnily / amusingly or dress to please themselves, really.
I will never be a woman, cannot know where their clothes tastes came from but some of these things just don't make sense to me and this one goes beyond fashion to a few notes on sex "hygiene":
a.Wearing those dresses with cleavage and a swooping neckline in the middle of winter. They cannot be comfortable.
b. Who thought them up, early on, and who keeps high heels a fashion item? Orthopedists with heavy investments in the shoe industry?
c. I have never understood those silly hats. However if you really do, ignore this note.
d. What's up with make-up? Yuk. It really doesn't make you look better. Different yes. Better, no. Plus it tastes bad if you are having full contact oral sex.
e. What's up underarm deodorant / antiperspirant? Yuk, plus they, too, taste bad if you are having full contact oral sex. Its the aluminum for one of them.
Ditto for "feminine hygiene" deodorants and REALLY ditto for the taste bad part. Sweetie, if we are 69, I do not want a synthetic strawberry smell in my mouth. It lasts way too long.
Hygiene is being clean, not coating yourself with cover-up smells. This is not to say a FINE perfume tactically placed cannot go beyond
If you pee in an interlude of sex, wash with a light soap, rinse and come on back to bed. I will be happy you thought of me.
I don't think I am alone in saying I don't like the taste of pee.
Ditto and more for #2 in the loo.
A brief suggestion. Just be clean. Take showers regularly. At work, maybe rinse underarms on a long day.
Research suggests the antiperspirants don't really work that well anyway.
f. Do you really need a $150 hairdo to feel attractive?
g. Or a $150 manicure / pedicure?
h. Or a $10K spa weekend?
All of us are pretty, plain or ugly and all the "treatments" in the world won't change this. We can do our best is all.
7. A $100K+ sports car in America. There is simply no where to drive it, its at high risk for theft and sale in Russia or South America and it really won't make you a better lover.
8. A $50K + SUV UNLESS you really do go off-road a lot and need one. Hunters, photographers, campers sure, why not if you have the cash. The rest of the car buying public can be much more comfy in other vehicles.
9. Two million dollar mobile homes / travel vehicles. What are you thinking about?
10. Why is everything a war today? Pizza wars, NY vs. Chicago. Iron Chef challenges. Throw downs. BBQ wars. Power eating challenges. Why are there no cooperations rather than all those wars?
11. Why don't Americans have health care for all?
12. The Olympic "sports" of banner waving and organized swimming. I am sure power eating and poker are coming up. See below.
13. Why is power eating considered a sport and on ESPN? They should be ashamed OR go a step further and have power drinking, power crack smoking and power cocaine snorting too.
14. Why is poker also considered a sport and on ESPN? How's this, have a gambling channel and put all the casino games on it ! There is little in the way of sport in any of them. Skill, yes, sport no.
I consider no-limit hold'em poker fully equal in difficulty, skill level to bridge, chess, checkers and go. These could also be on the gambling channel if played for money.
15. Why is pot illegal and both cigarettes and alcohol are? There is a profit motive at work here and the hordes of religionists don't want anyone to have fun. Maybe they designed the crotchless panties as an attempt at titillation. But why?
16. Why are so many teens funneled to college when they could do much better heading to work, trade school, the military, police, fire department and so on.
Go to work. Later if you find you need college, go there with the money YOU earned.
17. Why do people use air fresheners? Just get more air from the source. Its already fresh.
18. Roulette and craps. These confuse me. People put money on squares or the like, a ball is put into a spin or dice are tossed. Its gambling but how could it be fun? You know you will lose. Why not attempt poker? At least there is a chance to win. Not much. A chance. Do learn how to play first however. The pros will take your money, any amount and thank you for it. Some are rude and will laugh at you.
19. Gossip. There are folks in my seniors building who will sit for hours at a time, outside in hot weather, make noise, squawk, cackle, say nothing, laugh and that is their day. I tried it once and lasted 10 minutes.
20. Taking a bath rather than a shower.
Consider. Here is a bath tub. Did you actually clean the tub first? You fill it with fresh water. Here you are dirty.
There are parts of you that are dangerously dirty and check out the research on e coli.
There are parts of you that are seriously at risk, like your eyes that have a direct tube to your nasal cavity which could lead to your lungs or stomach,
Now, you step into the bath. Your feet, ripe with fungus and whatever else pollute the water immediately.
Next you sit. Folks you just infected the water with E. coli and who knows what else, along with various bacteria, fungus, pollen and even virus that has collected on your skin.
You may wash your head first. Guess what you are washing and rinsing with, bath water. Your eyes are under attack.
Your privates are also subject to the polluted water. I suspect your urethra is under attack and how many women have constant bladder and urethral problems due to the bath soup of infections and some men too.
IF you actually wash all over, how many of you rinse under the shower after a bath? I suspect few use the shower. They just dry off and wonder why their skin is a mess. YUK.
Just take a shower. All the problems go down the drain, you are healthier and life goes without worries from cleaning yourself.
If you like a bath, just get in, relax then take a shower after to actually get clean and don't immerse your head in the bath. Your eyes don't like problems.
21. Six pound hamburgers. Now this would make a fine meal for a basketball team but not any one person.
http://www.offroaders.com/album/clearfield/clear06092006/index5.html
This confuses me. Only one person so far has won this challenge for a free meal. A small 100 pound woman of 19 downed the 6 pound burger in under 3 hours.
WTF? Its 1/16th of her entire weight. Birds would be envious. YIKES. Why was there no video of this feat and the aftermath? What was she thinking? Did it kill her? Is she on ESPN now as a power eater?
This same place also has a 15 pound burger. How could you even cook a 15 pound burger? What would the spatula look like? "Denny's also has the "Beer Barrel Belly Buster" a monstrous 15-pound burger featuring 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard and banana peppers. On a bun."
Its a meal for 32 hungry middle income folks or 64 homeless souls. Are they expecting Paul Bunyan coming in for a snack?
22. There are words that don't make sense to me. Today's word is foolproof. Think about this. Someone competent designs a product and labels it foolproof in setting up, managing etc.
Weigh this against ALL the fools in the world. Someone is going to be a bigger fool than the product. Its statistics. There are some very focused fools.
Maybe the term should be almost foolproof. OR the company could hire fools to test products and state, this product is 87% foolproof.
This does not even include people like my ex-wife. She is not a fool by any means BUT she was born with the ability to destroy anything. I call her the Queen of Chaos. I am positive there are many like her in the world fully qualified to destroy most anything.
Companies should pay her great sums to test products. Pay the fools too of course.
They should come up with a product rating that blends chaos with foolery. This product is 87% foolproof and our Chaos expert PC took 4 months to destroy it. It took her only 3 months to destroy a Sherman tank.
Think about this. Really.
We do have a Sherman Tank. Penny destroyed it in 3 months. Well it was really 2 months but none of our technicians found out till we tried to start the tank after her visit.
Two days after Penny's visit, our best technician was there. She got inside the tank for a routine inspection. There was dog hair on the control panel. This WAS our very best tech, so she inspected further. Then she tried to start the tank. Nothing happened. She even had the key. Nothing happened. Other techs visited the tank to no avail.
We have since moved the tank to another location. Now its a very sturdy building shield. We drained the fuel. Top military advisers are still confused but this tank just won't work. Chaos at work.
The Queen of Chaos had visited. I rest my case.
23. Don't you think TinyURL should now be called medium sized URLS? Really.
24. After trying for years to find a companion online, I am now sure this makes no sense to me. We meet online. Do we? He could be a she and we wouldn't know. Photos can be sent that are not the person.
We can do video chat which is indicative. Regular voice or vidcam chat. Email. Find the right address and do google searches and then paid searches.
The more we do the closer to reality we get BUT a single day in person is worth more than all the chats, the words, the photos.
Make it real. Visit. DO NOT STAY AT THEIR PLACE. Get a m/hotel room when you visit and go on regular dates. Expect no more than a regular date.
Do not go to foreign countries looking for love or just to get laid. YOU WILL SUFFER.
Save sex for when you both exchange full blood tests for HIV, HHV, the 3 liver tests and all the STDs you never wanted to get.
If you cannot afford to do these things, you shouldn't be seeking a companion online who is not in your very own town or city. IF you search in your own town or city, don't forget the blood tests.
25. Raw flesh consumption confuses me. I call all of it sushi / sashimi, but raw flesh is OK too. It just doesn't look good on a menu. Five ounces of raw beef. Four ounces of raw sawfish, etc.
No, restaurateurs dress up raw beef and call it steak tartare, kitfo etc. Folks this is raw cow meat. Does your local cook Fred have the training or the microscope to KNOW WTF he is sending out the kitchen door?
Cooking doesn't take that long. Be patient and let the other restaurant patrons end up in the hospital.
Think about all the parasites, bacteria and even virus that flesh is subject to, the processing methods of butchers and fishmongers. How fresh their products actually are.
Imagine your insides. Then ponder this. Just how many chefs in the whole world are capable of absolutely KNOWING which raw flesh is safe for your insides and back this up with a health guarantee?
We don't see much pig sushi in local restaurants like Nam Mu Sod , chicken sushi, deer, horse or lamb sushi / raw flesh / sashimi meals on many restaurant's menu for the day?
Would you really want to visit a generic restaurant in Chattanooga, TN and order sushi? Would it be catfish from the Tennessee river? Is this wise? What could they offer that was fresh and safe?
Until I can afford the top drawer chefs who charge up to $100 for a single raw clam, more than $500+ for a meal and my insides have a fighting chance, I will have to stick to overcooked foods at the local RFC, MinnyDs, PancakesRUS and an OK Chinese restaurant.
26. Just what IS fat free sour cream OR fat free ice cream? They have been in the stores for years now. I never wanted to take them home. They are lies. Look up cream in your dictionary. There is no such thing as fat free cream.
Its worse than the W. C. Fields quote, "Its like corn on the cob without the cob."
There are other products like this, lies that we tolerate.
27. Why is the VA so willing to try to ignore veteran's claims? Is this a mandate from Congress, any particular sitting President or is it a government agency with no accountability, no professionals doing the right thing? Psychiatrists, podiatrists, osteopaths, internists and all the other specialists needed to do their homework and do right by the veteran?
From the time of our country's first wars, the government has found ways to ignore the needs of veterans. This continues till the present and will likely continue in future. This agency, the VA, is often in complete control of who gets served properly, treated properly, who gets the medical benefits they deserve at the level they are needed.
There does not appear to be a civilian review board of qualified professionals in the first paragraph who are paid to do one thing, their best, when reviewing claims AND after interviewing the veterans.
This civilian review board should begin now. They should be able to access ALL prior claims, act on them AND make recompense when their findings conflict with the VA's ill thought out previous decisions and do it NOW.
28. Most reality TV shows. There are just too many problems with these to go in to so I won't spend much time on them.
Now I don't consider a cooking show to be one of these. History, interviews, news etc. No, these is just aspects OF TV. I don't even mind the dance shows, talent shows or the like. They are entertainment.
Its when "reality" shows attempt to enter our consciousness as a new form of ritual or truth that they become annoying and offensive. Bridezillas is a fine example. The many quest shows.
Just take your own quest or go to some church or other for rituals. Go to EST, ISA, a football game or the like. I hate "reality" TV.
The above are just examples of how foolishness is hurting us. Like sports video games. You think you are doing something online or in a digital game. Say its a bicycle race.
Jack, or Jill, after mastering this sort of video game, enter a real world bicycle race and see how well you do. Buy the very best cycle on the planet, get out there in the air, the real world and start pedaling.
Oops, the digital world does NOT equal the real world. Bikes don't have joy sticks and you don't have the endurance, strength or the will to win IN the real world.
The word on old style pinball machines to describe a physical fault was TILT.
29. Flash Gordon and Dr. Who. Such wooden acting, writing and production values? Who watches this drivel?
30. There is " virtually " nothing here that makes sense to me. Not that the article was inaccurate, just what it was about:
" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/11/AR2007081100351.html "
Why would anyone pay so much money to play an online game? The amounts involved in buying digital real estate, houses, avatars, sex movements and more simply startles me.
What? Lawsuits over " rights, " or "thefts" of digital items inside the game? This is worse than a scam, its a travesty.
Buy low, sell high? How high do you have to be to buy digital real estate? I am always drunk. I used to be always stoned. I NEVER bought digital rights nor did I think one could sell nothing for more than nothing.
DUH. Check the ads and try flipping.
I suspect this game is SUCH an improbable scam that few realize what is happening to them.
Its sort of like what happens with religions and we all know how that works out. Oops, most don't actually know what IS happening to them.
What is next in Second Life? A digital godlike figure similar to L. Ron Hubbard, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, the angel Moroni, and is no one else disturbed by an angel only an i away from moron?, the founder of EST and so many more "religions" whose the members have to pay to worship?
Why are there no full scholarships to scientology for instance?
And what was up with Bhagwan and Sushila and why did Bhagwan actually need more than 5 Rolls Royces?
Inquiring minds want to know. Will the digital gods require you to buy their particular choices of cars, houses and stereo systems?
Will the payment scheme TO worship these 0&1 gods, these digital gods, be monthly dues or a HUGE lump sum? Will you win the lottery when you pray to 0&1 gods?
Will your life be better, your reality life family be better? Will you be able to get a refund if its not? Same for regular world based religions. A refund if not satisfied?
Why do so many wish to give so much to so few for so little just TO worship something that is not really there but they wish was there?
All these things confuse me.
by
Robin Hall
This will be updated as long as my life makes less and less sense. I have no idea why any of the following exist AT ALL. If you have other ideas, do drop me a line and I will add them, with full credit, or maybe you can blog them on your space.
1. A-cup bras. Really, what is going on other than the bra makers are scamming their customers?
2. Crotchless panties. The most logical use of underwear, to me, is for sanitary purposes. After a bathroom experience there is a chance of a drop of some liquid. Cotton works well here. Shear synthetics do not. Crotchless panties really do not.
If you are up for unexpected sex, go without drawers. Problem solved and more power to you, like in the sea grapes on Lantana Beach with Phyllis.
3. If a man can afford bespoke clothing: "What side do you dress to?" is pretty silly under 6". Be honest with your tailor.
4. Now this one is so outrageous it makes me mad. Why would anyone drink caffeine free diet soda? Duh. Water.
5. Cleavage annoys me. Not having it of course, but displaying it THEN chastising people who look and its not just men.
6. I think women's fashion and clothes are so often demeaning. Its like just being a woman makes them beauty objects, not equal people who dress funnily / amusingly or dress to please themselves, really.
I will never be a woman, cannot know where their clothes tastes came from but some of these things just don't make sense to me and this one goes beyond fashion to a few notes on sex "hygiene":
a.Wearing those dresses with cleavage and a swooping neckline in the middle of winter. They cannot be comfortable.
b. Who thought them up, early on, and who keeps high heels a fashion item? Orthopedists with heavy investments in the shoe industry?
c. I have never understood those silly hats. However if you really do, ignore this note.
d. What's up with make-up? Yuk. It really doesn't make you look better. Different yes. Better, no. Plus it tastes bad if you are having full contact oral sex.
e. What's up underarm deodorant / antiperspirant? Yuk, plus they, too, taste bad if you are having full contact oral sex. Its the aluminum for one of them.
Ditto for "feminine hygiene" deodorants and REALLY ditto for the taste bad part. Sweetie, if we are 69, I do not want a synthetic strawberry smell in my mouth. It lasts way too long.
Hygiene is being clean, not coating yourself with cover-up smells. This is not to say a FINE perfume tactically placed cannot go beyond
If you pee in an interlude of sex, wash with a light soap, rinse and come on back to bed. I will be happy you thought of me.
I don't think I am alone in saying I don't like the taste of pee.
Ditto and more for #2 in the loo.
A brief suggestion. Just be clean. Take showers regularly. At work, maybe rinse underarms on a long day.
Research suggests the antiperspirants don't really work that well anyway.
f. Do you really need a $150 hairdo to feel attractive?
g. Or a $150 manicure / pedicure?
h. Or a $10K spa weekend?
All of us are pretty, plain or ugly and all the "treatments" in the world won't change this. We can do our best is all.
7. A $100K+ sports car in America. There is simply no where to drive it, its at high risk for theft and sale in Russia or South America and it really won't make you a better lover.
8. A $50K + SUV UNLESS you really do go off-road a lot and need one. Hunters, photographers, campers sure, why not if you have the cash. The rest of the car buying public can be much more comfy in other vehicles.
9. Two million dollar mobile homes / travel vehicles. What are you thinking about?
10. Why is everything a war today? Pizza wars, NY vs. Chicago. Iron Chef challenges. Throw downs. BBQ wars. Power eating challenges. Why are there no cooperations rather than all those wars?
11. Why don't Americans have health care for all?
12. The Olympic "sports" of banner waving and organized swimming. I am sure power eating and poker are coming up. See below.
13. Why is power eating considered a sport and on ESPN? They should be ashamed OR go a step further and have power drinking, power crack smoking and power cocaine snorting too.
14. Why is poker also considered a sport and on ESPN? How's this, have a gambling channel and put all the casino games on it ! There is little in the way of sport in any of them. Skill, yes, sport no.
I consider no-limit hold'em poker fully equal in difficulty, skill level to bridge, chess, checkers and go. These could also be on the gambling channel if played for money.
15. Why is pot illegal and both cigarettes and alcohol are? There is a profit motive at work here and the hordes of religionists don't want anyone to have fun. Maybe they designed the crotchless panties as an attempt at titillation. But why?
16. Why are so many teens funneled to college when they could do much better heading to work, trade school, the military, police, fire department and so on.
Go to work. Later if you find you need college, go there with the money YOU earned.
17. Why do people use air fresheners? Just get more air from the source. Its already fresh.
18. Roulette and craps. These confuse me. People put money on squares or the like, a ball is put into a spin or dice are tossed. Its gambling but how could it be fun? You know you will lose. Why not attempt poker? At least there is a chance to win. Not much. A chance. Do learn how to play first however. The pros will take your money, any amount and thank you for it. Some are rude and will laugh at you.
19. Gossip. There are folks in my seniors building who will sit for hours at a time, outside in hot weather, make noise, squawk, cackle, say nothing, laugh and that is their day. I tried it once and lasted 10 minutes.
20. Taking a bath rather than a shower.
Consider. Here is a bath tub. Did you actually clean the tub first? You fill it with fresh water. Here you are dirty.
There are parts of you that are dangerously dirty and check out the research on e coli.
There are parts of you that are seriously at risk, like your eyes that have a direct tube to your nasal cavity which could lead to your lungs or stomach,
Now, you step into the bath. Your feet, ripe with fungus and whatever else pollute the water immediately.
Next you sit. Folks you just infected the water with E. coli and who knows what else, along with various bacteria, fungus, pollen and even virus that has collected on your skin.
You may wash your head first. Guess what you are washing and rinsing with, bath water. Your eyes are under attack.
Your privates are also subject to the polluted water. I suspect your urethra is under attack and how many women have constant bladder and urethral problems due to the bath soup of infections and some men too.
IF you actually wash all over, how many of you rinse under the shower after a bath? I suspect few use the shower. They just dry off and wonder why their skin is a mess. YUK.
Just take a shower. All the problems go down the drain, you are healthier and life goes without worries from cleaning yourself.
If you like a bath, just get in, relax then take a shower after to actually get clean and don't immerse your head in the bath. Your eyes don't like problems.
21. Six pound hamburgers. Now this would make a fine meal for a basketball team but not any one person.
http://www.offroaders.com/album/clearfield/clear06092006/index5.html
This confuses me. Only one person so far has won this challenge for a free meal. A small 100 pound woman of 19 downed the 6 pound burger in under 3 hours.
WTF? Its 1/16th of her entire weight. Birds would be envious. YIKES. Why was there no video of this feat and the aftermath? What was she thinking? Did it kill her? Is she on ESPN now as a power eater?
This same place also has a 15 pound burger. How could you even cook a 15 pound burger? What would the spatula look like? "Denny's also has the "Beer Barrel Belly Buster" a monstrous 15-pound burger featuring 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard and banana peppers. On a bun."
Its a meal for 32 hungry middle income folks or 64 homeless souls. Are they expecting Paul Bunyan coming in for a snack?
22. There are words that don't make sense to me. Today's word is foolproof. Think about this. Someone competent designs a product and labels it foolproof in setting up, managing etc.
Weigh this against ALL the fools in the world. Someone is going to be a bigger fool than the product. Its statistics. There are some very focused fools.
Maybe the term should be almost foolproof. OR the company could hire fools to test products and state, this product is 87% foolproof.
This does not even include people like my ex-wife. She is not a fool by any means BUT she was born with the ability to destroy anything. I call her the Queen of Chaos. I am positive there are many like her in the world fully qualified to destroy most anything.
Companies should pay her great sums to test products. Pay the fools too of course.
They should come up with a product rating that blends chaos with foolery. This product is 87% foolproof and our Chaos expert PC took 4 months to destroy it. It took her only 3 months to destroy a Sherman tank.
Think about this. Really.
We do have a Sherman Tank. Penny destroyed it in 3 months. Well it was really 2 months but none of our technicians found out till we tried to start the tank after her visit.
Two days after Penny's visit, our best technician was there. She got inside the tank for a routine inspection. There was dog hair on the control panel. This WAS our very best tech, so she inspected further. Then she tried to start the tank. Nothing happened. She even had the key. Nothing happened. Other techs visited the tank to no avail.
We have since moved the tank to another location. Now its a very sturdy building shield. We drained the fuel. Top military advisers are still confused but this tank just won't work. Chaos at work.
The Queen of Chaos had visited. I rest my case.
23. Don't you think TinyURL should now be called medium sized URLS? Really.
24. After trying for years to find a companion online, I am now sure this makes no sense to me. We meet online. Do we? He could be a she and we wouldn't know. Photos can be sent that are not the person.
We can do video chat which is indicative. Regular voice or vidcam chat. Email. Find the right address and do google searches and then paid searches.
The more we do the closer to reality we get BUT a single day in person is worth more than all the chats, the words, the photos.
Make it real. Visit. DO NOT STAY AT THEIR PLACE. Get a m/hotel room when you visit and go on regular dates. Expect no more than a regular date.
Do not go to foreign countries looking for love or just to get laid. YOU WILL SUFFER.
Save sex for when you both exchange full blood tests for HIV, HHV, the 3 liver tests and all the STDs you never wanted to get.
If you cannot afford to do these things, you shouldn't be seeking a companion online who is not in your very own town or city. IF you search in your own town or city, don't forget the blood tests.
25. Raw flesh consumption confuses me. I call all of it sushi / sashimi, but raw flesh is OK too. It just doesn't look good on a menu. Five ounces of raw beef. Four ounces of raw sawfish, etc.
No, restaurateurs dress up raw beef and call it steak tartare, kitfo etc. Folks this is raw cow meat. Does your local cook Fred have the training or the microscope to KNOW WTF he is sending out the kitchen door?
Cooking doesn't take that long. Be patient and let the other restaurant patrons end up in the hospital.
Think about all the parasites, bacteria and even virus that flesh is subject to, the processing methods of butchers and fishmongers. How fresh their products actually are.
Imagine your insides. Then ponder this. Just how many chefs in the whole world are capable of absolutely KNOWING which raw flesh is safe for your insides and back this up with a health guarantee?
We don't see much pig sushi in local restaurants like Nam Mu Sod , chicken sushi, deer, horse or lamb sushi / raw flesh / sashimi meals on many restaurant's menu for the day?
Would you really want to visit a generic restaurant in Chattanooga, TN and order sushi? Would it be catfish from the Tennessee river? Is this wise? What could they offer that was fresh and safe?
Until I can afford the top drawer chefs who charge up to $100 for a single raw clam, more than $500+ for a meal and my insides have a fighting chance, I will have to stick to overcooked foods at the local RFC, MinnyDs, PancakesRUS and an OK Chinese restaurant.
26. Just what IS fat free sour cream OR fat free ice cream? They have been in the stores for years now. I never wanted to take them home. They are lies. Look up cream in your dictionary. There is no such thing as fat free cream.
Its worse than the W. C. Fields quote, "Its like corn on the cob without the cob."
There are other products like this, lies that we tolerate.
27. Why is the VA so willing to try to ignore veteran's claims? Is this a mandate from Congress, any particular sitting President or is it a government agency with no accountability, no professionals doing the right thing? Psychiatrists, podiatrists, osteopaths, internists and all the other specialists needed to do their homework and do right by the veteran?
From the time of our country's first wars, the government has found ways to ignore the needs of veterans. This continues till the present and will likely continue in future. This agency, the VA, is often in complete control of who gets served properly, treated properly, who gets the medical benefits they deserve at the level they are needed.
There does not appear to be a civilian review board of qualified professionals in the first paragraph who are paid to do one thing, their best, when reviewing claims AND after interviewing the veterans.
This civilian review board should begin now. They should be able to access ALL prior claims, act on them AND make recompense when their findings conflict with the VA's ill thought out previous decisions and do it NOW.
28. Most reality TV shows. There are just too many problems with these to go in to so I won't spend much time on them.
Now I don't consider a cooking show to be one of these. History, interviews, news etc. No, these is just aspects OF TV. I don't even mind the dance shows, talent shows or the like. They are entertainment.
Its when "reality" shows attempt to enter our consciousness as a new form of ritual or truth that they become annoying and offensive. Bridezillas is a fine example. The many quest shows.
Just take your own quest or go to some church or other for rituals. Go to EST, ISA, a football game or the like. I hate "reality" TV.
The above are just examples of how foolishness is hurting us. Like sports video games. You think you are doing something online or in a digital game. Say its a bicycle race.
Jack, or Jill, after mastering this sort of video game, enter a real world bicycle race and see how well you do. Buy the very best cycle on the planet, get out there in the air, the real world and start pedaling.
Oops, the digital world does NOT equal the real world. Bikes don't have joy sticks and you don't have the endurance, strength or the will to win IN the real world.
The word on old style pinball machines to describe a physical fault was TILT.
29. Flash Gordon and Dr. Who. Such wooden acting, writing and production values? Who watches this drivel?
30. There is " virtually " nothing here that makes sense to me. Not that the article was inaccurate, just what it was about:
" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/11/AR2007081100351.html "
Why would anyone pay so much money to play an online game? The amounts involved in buying digital real estate, houses, avatars, sex movements and more simply startles me.
What? Lawsuits over " rights, " or "thefts" of digital items inside the game? This is worse than a scam, its a travesty.
Buy low, sell high? How high do you have to be to buy digital real estate? I am always drunk. I used to be always stoned. I NEVER bought digital rights nor did I think one could sell nothing for more than nothing.
DUH. Check the ads and try flipping.
I suspect this game is SUCH an improbable scam that few realize what is happening to them.
Its sort of like what happens with religions and we all know how that works out. Oops, most don't actually know what IS happening to them.
What is next in Second Life? A digital godlike figure similar to L. Ron Hubbard, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, the angel Moroni, and is no one else disturbed by an angel only an i away from moron?, the founder of EST and so many more "religions" whose the members have to pay to worship?
Why are there no full scholarships to scientology for instance?
And what was up with Bhagwan and Sushila and why did Bhagwan actually need more than 5 Rolls Royces?
Inquiring minds want to know. Will the digital gods require you to buy their particular choices of cars, houses and stereo systems?
Will the payment scheme TO worship these 0&1 gods, these digital gods, be monthly dues or a HUGE lump sum? Will you win the lottery when you pray to 0&1 gods?
Will your life be better, your reality life family be better? Will you be able to get a refund if its not? Same for regular world based religions. A refund if not satisfied?
Why do so many wish to give so much to so few for so little just TO worship something that is not really there but they wish was there?
All these things confuse me.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Does this make sense to anyone?
Does this make sense to anyone?
by
Robin Hall
From the NY Times today. "The Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that is expected to eventually total $20 billion at a time when some United States officials contend that the Saudis are playing a counterproductive role in Iraq."
Contend? Sell arms to Arabs? Neighbors?
This seems insane to me. We are arming our enemies as always for big business to thrive. Then we go to war with these same enemies. Then we pay them for war damages. Then they have money to buy more arms from us.
I KNOW I have missed somethings here, but what?
Follow the money and what do we see? Who gets paid off? Shouldn't these people be tried for treason?
by
Robin Hall
From the NY Times today. "The Bush administration is preparing to ask Congress to approve an arms sale package for Saudi Arabia and its neighbors that is expected to eventually total $20 billion at a time when some United States officials contend that the Saudis are playing a counterproductive role in Iraq."
Contend? Sell arms to Arabs? Neighbors?
This seems insane to me. We are arming our enemies as always for big business to thrive. Then we go to war with these same enemies. Then we pay them for war damages. Then they have money to buy more arms from us.
I KNOW I have missed somethings here, but what?
Follow the money and what do we see? Who gets paid off? Shouldn't these people be tried for treason?
Friday, July 27, 2007
Corporate Greed 3: Guarantees
Corporate Greed 3: Guarantees
by
Robin Hall
Words used to mean something I think. Someone says, "I guarantee," he or she meant it. Some folks took this responsibility seriously. Some were less serious.
Today most guarantees seem meaningless.
Take a single example, fans, Patton fans. My last purchase of an Industrial Grade model cost about $30 at a local HugeMart. The box clearly listed a 10 year warranty for the 20" model.
Not so long ago the box listed a 25 year warranty which Patton actually honored.
The trick these days is that the fine print is in the manual in the box. I could read it if there is a problem but only after opening the box.
Sure, the HugeMart would take it back within a month or so and in this HugeMarts are honorable and consistent. I appreciate this.
I didn't read the new warranty manual. I should have and then taken the fan back because about 13 months after purchase the fan died and I was left with a large paper weight.
You see, while the fan was guaranteed for 10 years, the warranty stated that I must pay two way shipping to the factory. Cost? About $30.
This seems like one of the more clear cut instances of corporate greed I know of so far but I will keep looking.
by
Robin Hall
Words used to mean something I think. Someone says, "I guarantee," he or she meant it. Some folks took this responsibility seriously. Some were less serious.
Today most guarantees seem meaningless.
Take a single example, fans, Patton fans. My last purchase of an Industrial Grade model cost about $30 at a local HugeMart. The box clearly listed a 10 year warranty for the 20" model.
Not so long ago the box listed a 25 year warranty which Patton actually honored.
The trick these days is that the fine print is in the manual in the box. I could read it if there is a problem but only after opening the box.
Sure, the HugeMart would take it back within a month or so and in this HugeMarts are honorable and consistent. I appreciate this.
I didn't read the new warranty manual. I should have and then taken the fan back because about 13 months after purchase the fan died and I was left with a large paper weight.
You see, while the fan was guaranteed for 10 years, the warranty stated that I must pay two way shipping to the factory. Cost? About $30.
This seems like one of the more clear cut instances of corporate greed I know of so far but I will keep looking.
Foods
Foods
by
Robin Hall
Its not easy saying your favorite things to ingest are all troubling: butter, tequila, Southern Comfort, Drambuie, most nuts, most nut butters, sour cream and taters, sour cream and chocolate powder, sour cream, Breyer's Vanilla, potato chips, popcorn, the crispy corn curls, creme de cassis, cream, clean pj and maybe clean ? with the right, you know. Just read between the lines.
Then there is chocolate. Pies of all sorts of course. A. B. Toklas brownies. Carrot cakes. Other cakes and I bet you NEVER heard of psyllium chocolate cake and if you have I will exchange recipes and maybe we should meet. Lets make it soon at Jackson Square near smiling Andy on a horse.
Next we move on to most breads, many pastries like elephant ears, raised donuts, many cheeses, a fine hamburger and wouldn't you really like a fillet mignon hamburger too?
Lobster served with a good melted butter in Maine. Alaska king crab legs in Alaska. Thin fried catfish and crayfish etouffee in Louisiana plus a tour of Louisiana's best other treats like: summa dem' po boy sammiches from New Orleans with Dixie Beer on a hot afternoon. Chile, yaint had dis, yaint had a sammich. Seriously. Go visit.
Kahlua soufflé. Hawaiian Delight ice cream from Dallas.
I want there to be more items in my list of foods. A week at elBulli for instance would get me started. A week of traveling with Anthony Bourdain, a week with Andrew Zimmern. Whole weeks each dining at restaurants run by Flay, Chiarello, Emeril, Batali, Thomas Keller, the Do Wa in NYC.
Lessons from Wolfgang, Michael, maybe Tyler. A close up of Giada in her dressing room.
Foods and more.
by
Robin Hall
Its not easy saying your favorite things to ingest are all troubling: butter, tequila, Southern Comfort, Drambuie, most nuts, most nut butters, sour cream and taters, sour cream and chocolate powder, sour cream, Breyer's Vanilla, potato chips, popcorn, the crispy corn curls, creme de cassis, cream, clean pj and maybe clean ? with the right, you know. Just read between the lines.
Then there is chocolate. Pies of all sorts of course. A. B. Toklas brownies. Carrot cakes. Other cakes and I bet you NEVER heard of psyllium chocolate cake and if you have I will exchange recipes and maybe we should meet. Lets make it soon at Jackson Square near smiling Andy on a horse.
Next we move on to most breads, many pastries like elephant ears, raised donuts, many cheeses, a fine hamburger and wouldn't you really like a fillet mignon hamburger too?
Lobster served with a good melted butter in Maine. Alaska king crab legs in Alaska. Thin fried catfish and crayfish etouffee in Louisiana plus a tour of Louisiana's best other treats like: summa dem' po boy sammiches from New Orleans with Dixie Beer on a hot afternoon. Chile, yaint had dis, yaint had a sammich. Seriously. Go visit.
Kahlua soufflé. Hawaiian Delight ice cream from Dallas.
I want there to be more items in my list of foods. A week at elBulli for instance would get me started. A week of traveling with Anthony Bourdain, a week with Andrew Zimmern. Whole weeks each dining at restaurants run by Flay, Chiarello, Emeril, Batali, Thomas Keller, the Do Wa in NYC.
Lessons from Wolfgang, Michael, maybe Tyler. A close up of Giada in her dressing room.
Foods and more.
Death With Honor
There is no shortage of organs available to the organ banks.
There is a shortage of good legislation however.
Simply legalize suicide and let it work like this: If life is intolerable for anyone, they would need a single half hour session with a death counselor. A one day wait after that will be fine.
Next, the person wanting suicide enters a hospital where blood and organ tests are done.
After the tests to find out how much can be harvested, a full harvest is performed. The agreement signed would absolve the hospital from liability AND require them to do the harvest even if nothing is useful.
Obviously, the person dies. That is the point for them.
Why shouldn't this be the law? Why should anyone be required to suffer? Prisoners facing a long sentence, sure. Folks living in daily terror from abuse, yes. Terminally ill, indeed. People living with any pain that is unrelenting whether of the body or of the brain, like depression, of course.
Let those who do not want to live help those who do.
Simple. Death with honor. Suicide that helps the living. Pain is ended for the one on the table and life continues for the ones they help, the ones who want to live.
That is all. Forever after there would be no shortage of organs. It seems logical and simple to me.
I will cue up first. My blood type is A+.
This is an ongoing note / commentary about suicide.
There is a shortage of good legislation however.
Simply legalize suicide and let it work like this: If life is intolerable for anyone, they would need a single half hour session with a death counselor. A one day wait after that will be fine.
Next, the person wanting suicide enters a hospital where blood and organ tests are done.
After the tests to find out how much can be harvested, a full harvest is performed. The agreement signed would absolve the hospital from liability AND require them to do the harvest even if nothing is useful.
Obviously, the person dies. That is the point for them.
Why shouldn't this be the law? Why should anyone be required to suffer? Prisoners facing a long sentence, sure. Folks living in daily terror from abuse, yes. Terminally ill, indeed. People living with any pain that is unrelenting whether of the body or of the brain, like depression, of course.
Let those who do not want to live help those who do.
Simple. Death with honor. Suicide that helps the living. Pain is ended for the one on the table and life continues for the ones they help, the ones who want to live.
That is all. Forever after there would be no shortage of organs. It seems logical and simple to me.
I will cue up first. My blood type is A+.
This is an ongoing note / commentary about suicide.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Boozed
Boozed
by
Robin Hall
I wonder how much alcohol I can drink? Daily I express this wonder in fact and daily its more. Today's 38 oz. of vodka is an example of me doing my best to figure this out. Its a lonely and endless quest.
Well, not endless. One day I will find an answer. I won't be writing any more after that. Likely that is good for all.
Folks, don't try this speculative behavior at home, at a bar or anywhere. You will lose as I am.
by
Robin Hall
I wonder how much alcohol I can drink? Daily I express this wonder in fact and daily its more. Today's 38 oz. of vodka is an example of me doing my best to figure this out. Its a lonely and endless quest.
Well, not endless. One day I will find an answer. I won't be writing any more after that. Likely that is good for all.
Folks, don't try this speculative behavior at home, at a bar or anywhere. You will lose as I am.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Who Stole the Beauty?
Who Stole the Beauty?
by
Robin Hall
In my lifetime the beauty has been stolen many times from the rest of us.
I cannot visit the beautiful island of Cuba that is only 90 miles from the US. Why?
Communism stole the beauty. Everywhere communism has been, beauty has been stolen, cheapened or destroyed. The people are drained, to the glory of the so-called state.
Everywhere. Russia, China, North Korea, Vietnam. Everywhere communism, the perversion of the human spirit has taken root, beauty is destroyed.
The Cultural Revolution? Get real. There was no revolution, cultural or otherwise. It was nothing more than the death dealing communists killing, stealing beauty and becoming their own religion.
We think that only nazis stole the beauty early in the 1900s and ignore the fact that communism's proponents, champions like Stalin, and was that his REAL name?, killed more people than the entire WW II. Really.
Take the former jewel of the Mediterranean, Beirut. Within my 62 years of life it was considered a PREMIER tourist destination. The muslims ruined this. Billions in tourism lost to terrorists. Imagine.
I am sure a top notch accountant could work out the figures. Money lost by the entire world due to muslims ruining just this one city. Then add in the negative costs of the religionist's attacks on others.
Further, just what do all these criminal muslims do for work? Who supports them versus what money they make from work.
This has troubled me for decades now, what do all those terrorists do for work? Does killing people pay well?
The religionists cost each and every one of us money and beauty.
Everywhere in the world that beauty is stolen, NOTHING is gained. Billions are lost in tourism alone. Death reigns.
The religionists have ruined so much of the world in so little time. You think communism wasn't a religion? Dig deeper in the dictionary.
Its time for decent people to take back the world from religionists, to reclaim beauty. Let your voice be heard. Reclaim beauty.
by
Robin Hall
In my lifetime the beauty has been stolen many times from the rest of us.
I cannot visit the beautiful island of Cuba that is only 90 miles from the US. Why?
Communism stole the beauty. Everywhere communism has been, beauty has been stolen, cheapened or destroyed. The people are drained, to the glory of the so-called state.
Everywhere. Russia, China, North Korea, Vietnam. Everywhere communism, the perversion of the human spirit has taken root, beauty is destroyed.
The Cultural Revolution? Get real. There was no revolution, cultural or otherwise. It was nothing more than the death dealing communists killing, stealing beauty and becoming their own religion.
We think that only nazis stole the beauty early in the 1900s and ignore the fact that communism's proponents, champions like Stalin, and was that his REAL name?, killed more people than the entire WW II. Really.
Take the former jewel of the Mediterranean, Beirut. Within my 62 years of life it was considered a PREMIER tourist destination. The muslims ruined this. Billions in tourism lost to terrorists. Imagine.
I am sure a top notch accountant could work out the figures. Money lost by the entire world due to muslims ruining just this one city. Then add in the negative costs of the religionist's attacks on others.
Further, just what do all these criminal muslims do for work? Who supports them versus what money they make from work.
This has troubled me for decades now, what do all those terrorists do for work? Does killing people pay well?
The religionists cost each and every one of us money and beauty.
Everywhere in the world that beauty is stolen, NOTHING is gained. Billions are lost in tourism alone. Death reigns.
The religionists have ruined so much of the world in so little time. You think communism wasn't a religion? Dig deeper in the dictionary.
Its time for decent people to take back the world from religionists, to reclaim beauty. Let your voice be heard. Reclaim beauty.
Getting Old Stinks
Getting Old Stinks
by
Robin Hall, age 62
I have written several notes on getting old and this is another. Its almost a tautology, sort of, maybe.
The thing in my family that was just wrong was that no one prepared ME to get old. There were no OLD lessons. No one wanted to mention what they were going through.
This was wrong. We need lessons on moving through the stages of life. We don't usually get lessons. This stinks.
Anyway, when I was young I observed old folks all around me. I observed my own family's members.
Observed. I had no understanding of what they were going through. Now I do.
It stinks and literally at times. Just wait till you poo your pants in public the first time. It stinks, its embarrassing and you will NEVER get over it even if it never happens again.
For me, the first understandings of getting old included pain from arthritis. It took longer to wake up, longer to prepare to go outside.
There was less hair and what was left was the wrong color. My knees hurt too and there were odd pains that came and went.
There are now stomach pains, other aches and my shoes don't seem to fit. I don't see as well. I don't care as much about anything.
Did you know that old folks can be really alone? Yes, no friends or family to visit with. None to tend to them / us when this is needed?
Do you have even the slightest clue how much insurance costs that would actually pay for good senior care / assisted living? You start when you are 22, put in $400 a month till you are 63 and MAYBE you will earn decent care but just maybe.
The monthly rental amount for assisted living in this area ranges upward from $2500 and that is not a private room.
I have nothing more to add here. Getting old stinks.
by
Robin Hall, age 62
I have written several notes on getting old and this is another. Its almost a tautology, sort of, maybe.
The thing in my family that was just wrong was that no one prepared ME to get old. There were no OLD lessons. No one wanted to mention what they were going through.
This was wrong. We need lessons on moving through the stages of life. We don't usually get lessons. This stinks.
Anyway, when I was young I observed old folks all around me. I observed my own family's members.
Observed. I had no understanding of what they were going through. Now I do.
It stinks and literally at times. Just wait till you poo your pants in public the first time. It stinks, its embarrassing and you will NEVER get over it even if it never happens again.
For me, the first understandings of getting old included pain from arthritis. It took longer to wake up, longer to prepare to go outside.
There was less hair and what was left was the wrong color. My knees hurt too and there were odd pains that came and went.
There are now stomach pains, other aches and my shoes don't seem to fit. I don't see as well. I don't care as much about anything.
Did you know that old folks can be really alone? Yes, no friends or family to visit with. None to tend to them / us when this is needed?
Do you have even the slightest clue how much insurance costs that would actually pay for good senior care / assisted living? You start when you are 22, put in $400 a month till you are 63 and MAYBE you will earn decent care but just maybe.
The monthly rental amount for assisted living in this area ranges upward from $2500 and that is not a private room.
I have nothing more to add here. Getting old stinks.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Condoleezza Rice Should Never Have Had Her Two Major Postings in this Administration
Condoleezza Rice Should Never Have Had Her Two Major Postings in this Administration
by
Robin Hall
OK, call me silly but putting a bright to brilliant woman into her two postings in this administration just seemed wrong to me. We are fighting seriously damaged men and women of islam.
Only the men really matter in the milieu of islam. In no way that I can determine would ANY of these fucking criminals of islam, honor the qualities and output of a fine mind that was female.
Yet our president thought, what? I will appoint a female who is a lot smarter than I am to deal with men who have no respect for females and will balk at even talking to our National Security Adviser, Secretary of State. I am confused.
Why didn't our president Bush appoint this very capable person to a well paid advisory position, a puppet master of the highest order, with the understanding that when a position in government comes up that does not have direct contact with the men of islam who hate women's freedom notions, she would get this position?
More, should Dr. R. wish most any posting in the civilian world she was qualified for, she would get that at the end of her National Service.
But no. Our president, feeling unworthy? but in a position of power chose the most qualified person and ignored the facts of islam.
Well, that is my view. Silly me.
by
Robin Hall
OK, call me silly but putting a bright to brilliant woman into her two postings in this administration just seemed wrong to me. We are fighting seriously damaged men and women of islam.
Only the men really matter in the milieu of islam. In no way that I can determine would ANY of these fucking criminals of islam, honor the qualities and output of a fine mind that was female.
Yet our president thought, what? I will appoint a female who is a lot smarter than I am to deal with men who have no respect for females and will balk at even talking to our National Security Adviser, Secretary of State. I am confused.
Why didn't our president Bush appoint this very capable person to a well paid advisory position, a puppet master of the highest order, with the understanding that when a position in government comes up that does not have direct contact with the men of islam who hate women's freedom notions, she would get this position?
More, should Dr. R. wish most any posting in the civilian world she was qualified for, she would get that at the end of her National Service.
But no. Our president, feeling unworthy? but in a position of power chose the most qualified person and ignored the facts of islam.
Well, that is my view. Silly me.
The Fellow Down the Hallway is Me, He is YOU: The Need for Nationalized Health Care
The Fellow Down the Hallway is Me, He is YOU: The Need for Nationalized Health Care
by
Robin Hall
I live in public housing, just like "Jim", the fellow down the hallway. I will soon be his age. He has recently become unable to realize he is peeing in his pants, or worse.
There is no one to tend to "Jim". No family or friends because sometimes we outlive them all or they don't want us.
There is no nurse or social worker either to guide "Jim" as he passes through the very natural stages at the end of his life.
Each and every one of us here at Chester C. Powell Apartments and all the other public housing units around the country is a heartbeat, a small stroke or coronary event away from the grave or worse, a low rent nursing home.
When we are young and sometimes prettier, this part of life is easy to ignore.
Few of us understand the need to save the enormous amount of money we will require for our own care as a senior. Few have the money TO save, especially the disabled, like me.
Especially too, the working poor.
Even active middle income folks usually ignore this desperate failing in our medical and insurance systems.
We need decent nationalized public health care. We need it now. Keep this in mind when you go to the polls: its YOUR future you are voting for.
"Oh shit, Robin, its too fucking expensive to vote in Health Care for all."
Well, Jack or Jill, unless you are a close relative to Bill or other rich folks, its going to be your turn one day and it could be sooner than you think.
A tiny stroke, a drunk driver, some exotic bird disease or the like and you will be needing what you just voted NOT to have.
We do not have to make decent health care perfect before its voted in.
Think this through, vote it in and keep making it more efficient over the years, till YOU need it.
Our President Bill Clinton tried to make this happen. Today others are trying. Let them have their way.
Vote FOR national health care for ALL of our citizens before its too late for "Jim", or Robin.
Vote FOR national health care for ALL before its YOU that is the fellow down the hallway with no one to care.
by
Robin Hall
I live in public housing, just like "Jim", the fellow down the hallway. I will soon be his age. He has recently become unable to realize he is peeing in his pants, or worse.
There is no one to tend to "Jim". No family or friends because sometimes we outlive them all or they don't want us.
There is no nurse or social worker either to guide "Jim" as he passes through the very natural stages at the end of his life.
Each and every one of us here at Chester C. Powell Apartments and all the other public housing units around the country is a heartbeat, a small stroke or coronary event away from the grave or worse, a low rent nursing home.
When we are young and sometimes prettier, this part of life is easy to ignore.
Few of us understand the need to save the enormous amount of money we will require for our own care as a senior. Few have the money TO save, especially the disabled, like me.
Especially too, the working poor.
Even active middle income folks usually ignore this desperate failing in our medical and insurance systems.
We need decent nationalized public health care. We need it now. Keep this in mind when you go to the polls: its YOUR future you are voting for.
"Oh shit, Robin, its too fucking expensive to vote in Health Care for all."
Well, Jack or Jill, unless you are a close relative to Bill or other rich folks, its going to be your turn one day and it could be sooner than you think.
A tiny stroke, a drunk driver, some exotic bird disease or the like and you will be needing what you just voted NOT to have.
We do not have to make decent health care perfect before its voted in.
Think this through, vote it in and keep making it more efficient over the years, till YOU need it.
Our President Bill Clinton tried to make this happen. Today others are trying. Let them have their way.
Vote FOR national health care for ALL of our citizens before its too late for "Jim", or Robin.
Vote FOR national health care for ALL before its YOU that is the fellow down the hallway with no one to care.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Corporate Greed 2, Toast
Corporate Greed 2, Toast
by
Robin Hall
My last note about corporate greed mentioned something like a paradigm change in rechargeable batteries. Paradigm is a bit large for this but its accurate.
Today's observation concerns bread and toasters. Not that many years back, most bread was about the same size. Toasters could then be made the same size. The economy of scale which is a wonderful part of our US economy and keeps our prices down kept our toaster prices down too.
Toasters last a very long time. There is no need to replace them until they die.
I think manufacturers came up with another way to sell more toasters. Convince bread makers to make bigger bread that didn't fit in older toasters. Toast eaters got tricked and bought bigger toasters rather than regular sized bread.
However, the bread makers saw a flaw. Bread was bread, more or less. SO they began to offer dozens of types of bread, even to local stupidmarkets.
How many of you toast eaters noticed, rebelled and kept buying regular sized bread? Raise your hand.
Bigger bread needs bigger toasters. More toasters are sold. More types of bread are sold. Almost everyone wins.
Several snags. Toasters must be bought when they are not needed. The bread, being bigger, adds calories to our diet.
What became of our old toasters? The junk yard. The junk yard is filling up. More junk yards are needed. There is not room for more junk yards.
We spend more on both bigger toasters and bigger bread. We eat more bread. We get fatter.
Big business is making us fatter. How many of us are able to observe the bigger bread slices, cut them in half or so and eat that sort of sandwich?
I mean, really, a sandwich is a sandwich isn't it? AND we like two slices of toast with breakfast or a BLT. Its just bread, isn't it? Isn't it?
by
Robin Hall
My last note about corporate greed mentioned something like a paradigm change in rechargeable batteries. Paradigm is a bit large for this but its accurate.
Today's observation concerns bread and toasters. Not that many years back, most bread was about the same size. Toasters could then be made the same size. The economy of scale which is a wonderful part of our US economy and keeps our prices down kept our toaster prices down too.
Toasters last a very long time. There is no need to replace them until they die.
I think manufacturers came up with another way to sell more toasters. Convince bread makers to make bigger bread that didn't fit in older toasters. Toast eaters got tricked and bought bigger toasters rather than regular sized bread.
However, the bread makers saw a flaw. Bread was bread, more or less. SO they began to offer dozens of types of bread, even to local stupidmarkets.
How many of you toast eaters noticed, rebelled and kept buying regular sized bread? Raise your hand.
Bigger bread needs bigger toasters. More toasters are sold. More types of bread are sold. Almost everyone wins.
Several snags. Toasters must be bought when they are not needed. The bread, being bigger, adds calories to our diet.
What became of our old toasters? The junk yard. The junk yard is filling up. More junk yards are needed. There is not room for more junk yards.
We spend more on both bigger toasters and bigger bread. We eat more bread. We get fatter.
Big business is making us fatter. How many of us are able to observe the bigger bread slices, cut them in half or so and eat that sort of sandwich?
I mean, really, a sandwich is a sandwich isn't it? AND we like two slices of toast with breakfast or a BLT. Its just bread, isn't it? Isn't it?
Sunday, July 15, 2007
A Quote from Today's News
A Quote from Today's News
with
Robin Hall
A partial quote from today's news: "L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $660M for Abuse LOS ANGELES (AP) - The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese has settled its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press has learned. The Roman..."
Isn't this special? Can you even feature what GOOD $660M could do, the people it could help, yet the saintly religionists continue to pay for their own sins while ignoring decency?
More, can you imagine what this church's greatest perversion, its Spanish Inquisition [ there was more than one ], would have done to its own members being caught with their pants down? There are entire museums dedicated to the machines of torture these monsters used.
Has anyone checked today's headlines on perversion payoffs for the un-religious? Zero buck$. Religionists are out $660M, atheists are not.
Hmmm. This is just ONE church, the ever present and perverse catholic church.
I wonder what the methodists, baptists, CoC and Lutherans are up to?
Say, wouldn't that be an interesting study? Church by church. Which church has the most payoffs due to some priest / pastor trashing the life of some youngster?
In this light, I wonder what the Inquisition would have cost the catholics or how much their participation with the nazis in World War II would have drained their deep pockets? And don't forget Napoleon and the catholic church AND their ongoing connections to the IRA. Well now.
Next, figure in the damage muslims are doing in the name of their particular church. Don't forget other brands of christians and do not let the jews off either, they are not without "sin". YIKES. Are there other churches? Add them as well unless they are without "sin/s."
I just had another wondering. What perversions are muslims hiding in their secret ness? We don't know. And what perversions are those burkas hiding? Men traveling around as women? Ugly women? Ugly men? Terrorists? Oh, what an original a thought?
And just which god is this particular church serving? OR which demon?
Further IF there are various aspects of this church, why aren't its good parts finally bitch slapping the terrorists, UNLESS their beliefs are not that different?
There are enough people in the world today trying to hurt us. Do we really need gods, demons and churches to hurt us more quickly? Do we need the guilt these religions produce? And where is the good they are SUPPOSED to produce but are not?
with
Robin Hall
A partial quote from today's news: "L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $660M for Abuse LOS ANGELES (AP) - The nation's largest Catholic archdiocese has settled its abuse cases for $660 million, by far the largest payout in the church's sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press has learned. The Roman..."
Isn't this special? Can you even feature what GOOD $660M could do, the people it could help, yet the saintly religionists continue to pay for their own sins while ignoring decency?
More, can you imagine what this church's greatest perversion, its Spanish Inquisition [ there was more than one ], would have done to its own members being caught with their pants down? There are entire museums dedicated to the machines of torture these monsters used.
Has anyone checked today's headlines on perversion payoffs for the un-religious? Zero buck$. Religionists are out $660M, atheists are not.
Hmmm. This is just ONE church, the ever present and perverse catholic church.
I wonder what the methodists, baptists, CoC and Lutherans are up to?
Say, wouldn't that be an interesting study? Church by church. Which church has the most payoffs due to some priest / pastor trashing the life of some youngster?
In this light, I wonder what the Inquisition would have cost the catholics or how much their participation with the nazis in World War II would have drained their deep pockets? And don't forget Napoleon and the catholic church AND their ongoing connections to the IRA. Well now.
Next, figure in the damage muslims are doing in the name of their particular church. Don't forget other brands of christians and do not let the jews off either, they are not without "sin". YIKES. Are there other churches? Add them as well unless they are without "sin/s."
I just had another wondering. What perversions are muslims hiding in their secret ness? We don't know. And what perversions are those burkas hiding? Men traveling around as women? Ugly women? Ugly men? Terrorists? Oh, what an original a thought?
And just which god is this particular church serving? OR which demon?
Further IF there are various aspects of this church, why aren't its good parts finally bitch slapping the terrorists, UNLESS their beliefs are not that different?
There are enough people in the world today trying to hurt us. Do we really need gods, demons and churches to hurt us more quickly? Do we need the guilt these religions produce? And where is the good they are SUPPOSED to produce but are not?
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Words
Words
by
Robin Hall
There words in this news piece that should not be in the same paragraph in the writings of a sane society.
"Pakistani troops seized Islamambad's Red Mosque on Tuesday and attempted to flush out the remaining militants entrenched inside a women's religious school in fierce fighting that left at..."
Fierce fighting, militants, women's religious and school. How do these words relate, in a sane society?
I am not convinced the upcoming years are going to be our best ones.
The UK is suffering bombings that are not, more or less, home grown as with the IRA, a catholic organization or organization of catholics who were radical religionists.
Perhaps the real big bang the physicists speak of is just the regular blowing up that religionists do to society?
by
Robin Hall
There words in this news piece that should not be in the same paragraph in the writings of a sane society.
"Pakistani troops seized Islamambad's Red Mosque on Tuesday and attempted to flush out the remaining militants entrenched inside a women's religious school in fierce fighting that left at..."
Fierce fighting, militants, women's religious and school. How do these words relate, in a sane society?
I am not convinced the upcoming years are going to be our best ones.
The UK is suffering bombings that are not, more or less, home grown as with the IRA, a catholic organization or organization of catholics who were radical religionists.
Perhaps the real big bang the physicists speak of is just the regular blowing up that religionists do to society?
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Stand Up and Fight
Stand Up and Fight
by
Robin Hall
Can you even imagine the courage it would take for a muslim religionist society to have done this?
"Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf Saturday ruled out any compromise with the hardcore militants holed up in a besieged mosque for last five days and warned them to surrender or face death."
Salute.
by
Robin Hall
Can you even imagine the courage it would take for a muslim religionist society to have done this?
"Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf Saturday ruled out any compromise with the hardcore militants holed up in a besieged mosque for last five days and warned them to surrender or face death."
Salute.
Beer is the New Wine
Beer is the New Wine
by
Robin Hall
I am watching a Food Network or Travel Channel show, Epicurious. The chef is making food with beer AND connecting a particular beer afterward.
It seems that beer is the new wine as there are books about blending food and beer.
There needs to be new food research. Blending food with ones illness and stages thereof.
Beef bourguignon with anxiety, a light salad with a dark depression cycle, a milk shake with OCD etc.
I want to rant on about the silliness of something being the new something else, Beer is the New Wine, but its quite a popular current linguistic notion and I will use it too.
Blogging is good.
by
Robin Hall
I am watching a Food Network or Travel Channel show, Epicurious. The chef is making food with beer AND connecting a particular beer afterward.
It seems that beer is the new wine as there are books about blending food and beer.
There needs to be new food research. Blending food with ones illness and stages thereof.
Beef bourguignon with anxiety, a light salad with a dark depression cycle, a milk shake with OCD etc.
I want to rant on about the silliness of something being the new something else, Beer is the New Wine, but its quite a popular current linguistic notion and I will use it too.
Blogging is good.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Are Religionists Proud Of All Their Killing?
Are Religionists Proud Of All Their Killing?
by
Robin Hall
This note is triggered by today's news about suicide bombings in the UK.
Some low grade bombs where only the suicide bomber dies, that is dangerous and upsetting enough but what if these insane people finally hire a good bomb maker? Will the UK's reaction be the same? Unlikely. Would our reaction in the US be the same? Unlikely.
The difference between a dud / low grade bomb to serious explosive could be a half pound of some substance or other or just a more knowledgeable bomb maker.
Now I fully support suicide. No rational society should MANDATE its citizens cannot die with dignity.
That said, I also support suicide bombing as a social statement BUT not with the purpose of killing anyone but oneself, otherwise the phrase, suicide bomber, is just wrong. I have no good choice here. Hmm. Insane, perverted person wanting to kill others who is so alienated from society that s/he REALLY JUST WANTS TO COMMIT SUICIDE BUT CLOAKES THEMSELVES IN RELIGION TO FEEL BETTER Bomber? OK that is too long.
Here is my suggestion. Call a press conference in a very open stadium, field or the like. Make your statement to the press while you are at a safe distance from everyone and either set yourself on fire or blow you and you alone up.
For myself, I would really listen to someone willing to do this for their cause. I would want to know what their grievance was. I would listen to their message. I would write my government's officials if that was the request for a better world.
Only one person gets killed. A HUGE message goes out.
However when these murderers slaughter others, the group members should simply be put down like rabid dogs. Period.
Next, their keepers, their "cell," everyone involved in the sort of tragic upbringing and training that would produce these rabid murderers, ALL of these people should be put down too.
Maybe then some healing can happen. Its my contention as well, that these murderous groups should be dealt with by whatever over-religion is involved. Muslims clean up their own. Christians clean up their own etc. Something in the over-religion caused their own militants to slaughter. Its time for them to take out the trash.
Can you even imagine a culture / religion which is so alienated / deluded / perverted where a doctor, among the wealthiest of technocrats in any country, would plot the destruction of society rather than work to make the world better? AND most of the time there is simply no statement involved like, hey, leave our country or we need food, help us.
Its beyond me. I maintain that religion per se is at fault in the destruction of the world today and that it could ruin everything decent we have worked so hard to build.
The christian catholic IRA, the American separatists / skinheads and others wish to claim "spirit in the sky" acceptance of THEIR views. Can all the religions lay claim to acceptance of THEIR view and be sane or correct?
And isn't it men's writings rather than some divine intervention that really is the cause? Some men get together, write stories about how to live, maybe have some food edicts for their era, health items really, then they foist the stories, edicts and a religious hierarchy on to everyone and state this is how to live OR ELSE. The OR ELSE for some religions is death to you if you don't bow down to THEIR spirit in the sky notion.
No modern terrorist attack has been claimed by atheists and no brand of religion has had its main group even try to control the so-called radicals in its midst. One wonders if the radicals only expand on what the main body of religionists really feel?
Society in general is under attack by religionists. These religionists actually run most of society in the civilized world. What are we to learn? My view is that religion is dangerous. Religionists are dangerous.
Perhaps its time to collect ourselves and click the delete button on religions or put the brakes on it: stop all government subsidies TO churches, that is churches pay tax on income like any business.
Actually separate church and state. Encourage all to take part in the world regardless their age, sex or other items and IF a faction of some religion starts blowing people up, start taxing their church to pay for the damages with restitution to families.
Folks, religion is killing us. Think about that.
by
Robin Hall
This note is triggered by today's news about suicide bombings in the UK.
Some low grade bombs where only the suicide bomber dies, that is dangerous and upsetting enough but what if these insane people finally hire a good bomb maker? Will the UK's reaction be the same? Unlikely. Would our reaction in the US be the same? Unlikely.
The difference between a dud / low grade bomb to serious explosive could be a half pound of some substance or other or just a more knowledgeable bomb maker.
Now I fully support suicide. No rational society should MANDATE its citizens cannot die with dignity.
That said, I also support suicide bombing as a social statement BUT not with the purpose of killing anyone but oneself, otherwise the phrase, suicide bomber, is just wrong. I have no good choice here. Hmm. Insane, perverted person wanting to kill others who is so alienated from society that s/he REALLY JUST WANTS TO COMMIT SUICIDE BUT CLOAKES THEMSELVES IN RELIGION TO FEEL BETTER Bomber? OK that is too long.
Here is my suggestion. Call a press conference in a very open stadium, field or the like. Make your statement to the press while you are at a safe distance from everyone and either set yourself on fire or blow you and you alone up.
For myself, I would really listen to someone willing to do this for their cause. I would want to know what their grievance was. I would listen to their message. I would write my government's officials if that was the request for a better world.
Only one person gets killed. A HUGE message goes out.
However when these murderers slaughter others, the group members should simply be put down like rabid dogs. Period.
Next, their keepers, their "cell," everyone involved in the sort of tragic upbringing and training that would produce these rabid murderers, ALL of these people should be put down too.
Maybe then some healing can happen. Its my contention as well, that these murderous groups should be dealt with by whatever over-religion is involved. Muslims clean up their own. Christians clean up their own etc. Something in the over-religion caused their own militants to slaughter. Its time for them to take out the trash.
Can you even imagine a culture / religion which is so alienated / deluded / perverted where a doctor, among the wealthiest of technocrats in any country, would plot the destruction of society rather than work to make the world better? AND most of the time there is simply no statement involved like, hey, leave our country or we need food, help us.
Its beyond me. I maintain that religion per se is at fault in the destruction of the world today and that it could ruin everything decent we have worked so hard to build.
The christian catholic IRA, the American separatists / skinheads and others wish to claim "spirit in the sky" acceptance of THEIR views. Can all the religions lay claim to acceptance of THEIR view and be sane or correct?
And isn't it men's writings rather than some divine intervention that really is the cause? Some men get together, write stories about how to live, maybe have some food edicts for their era, health items really, then they foist the stories, edicts and a religious hierarchy on to everyone and state this is how to live OR ELSE. The OR ELSE for some religions is death to you if you don't bow down to THEIR spirit in the sky notion.
No modern terrorist attack has been claimed by atheists and no brand of religion has had its main group even try to control the so-called radicals in its midst. One wonders if the radicals only expand on what the main body of religionists really feel?
Society in general is under attack by religionists. These religionists actually run most of society in the civilized world. What are we to learn? My view is that religion is dangerous. Religionists are dangerous.
Perhaps its time to collect ourselves and click the delete button on religions or put the brakes on it: stop all government subsidies TO churches, that is churches pay tax on income like any business.
Actually separate church and state. Encourage all to take part in the world regardless their age, sex or other items and IF a faction of some religion starts blowing people up, start taxing their church to pay for the damages with restitution to families.
Folks, religion is killing us. Think about that.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Sometimes We Need to Exceed Ourselves
Sometimes We Need to Exceed Ourselves
by
the writer
Article
The above link refers to the article that follows. Internet links often get broken. I claim nothing in this other than I am copying the entire article as I found it. I DO hope you just read it when questions of science vs. religion show up.
I also hope the authors will forgive me for including it on my blog. Again, I did not initiate any of their copyrighted material and only want to pass it along because it begins, in part, to explain my annoyance with religion.
The authors did this on their own of course.
The article explains how the religious perpetrate themselves and if you read between the lines, why. If you extend this, well things COULD LIKELY get better, but due to the religious, they are probably not going to in our lifetime.
Again, the authors are not even likely to have even done what I think they did, just that I read the article and it seemed to fit things in my mind.
" Home About Edge Features Edge Editions Press Edge Search
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The developmental data suggest that resistance to science will arise in children when scientific claims clash with early emerging, intuitive expectations. This resistance will persist through adulthood if the scientific claims are contested within a society, and will be especially strong if there is a non-scientific alternative that is rooted in common sense and championed by people who are taken as reliable and trustworthy. This is the current situation in the United States with regard to the central tenets of neuroscience and of evolutionary biology. These clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals — and, in the United States, these intuitive beliefs are particularly likely to be endorsed and transmitted by trusted religious and political authorities. Hence these are among the domains where Americans' resistance to science is the strongest.
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE RESIST SCIENCE?
By Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg
PAUL BLOOM is a psychologist at Yale University and the author of Descartes' Baby. DEENA SKOLNICK WEISBERG is a doctoral candidate in psychology at Yale University.
Paul Bloom's Edge Bio Page
Deena Skolnick Weisberg's Edge Bio Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE RESIST SCIENCE?
It is no secret that many American adults reject some scientific ideas. In a 2005 Pew Trust poll, for instance, 42% of respondents said that they believed that humans and other animals have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. A substantial minority of Americans, then, deny that evolution has even taken place, making them more radical than "Intelligent Design" theorists, who deny only that natural selection can explain complex design. But evolution is not the only domain in which people reject science: Many believe in the efficacy of unproven medical interventions, the mystical nature of out-of-body experiences, the existence of supernatural entities such as ghosts and fairies, and the legitimacy of astrology, ESP, and divination.
There are two common assumptions about the nature of this resistance. First, it is often assumed to be a particularly American problem, explained in terms of the strong religious beliefs of many American citizens and the anti-science leanings of the dominant political party. Second, the problem is often characterized as the result of insufficient exposure to the relevant scientific facts, and hence is best addressed with improved science education.
We believe that these assumptions, while not completely false, reflect a misunderstanding of the nature of this phenomenon. While cultural factors are plainly relevant, American adults' resistance to scientific ideas reflects universal facts about what children know and how children learn. If this is right, then resistance to science cannot be simply addressed through more education; something different is needed.
What children know
The main source of resistance to scientific ideas concerns what children know prior to their exposure to science. The last several decades of developmental psychology has made it abundantly clear that humans do not start off as "blank slates." Rather, even one year-olds possess a rich understanding of both the physical world (a "naïve physics") and the social world (a "naïve psychology"). Babies know that objects are solid, that they persist over time even when they are out of sight, that they fall to the ground if unsupported, and that they do not move unless acted upon. They also understand that people move autonomously in response to social and physical events, that they act and react in accord with their goals, and that they respond with appropriate emotions to different situations.
These intuitions give children a head start when it comes to understanding and learning about objects and people. But these intuitions also sometimes clash with scientific discoveries about the nature of the world, making certain scientific facts difficult to learn. As Susan Carey once put it, the problem with teaching science to children is "not what the student lacks, but what the student has, namely alternative conceptual frameworks for understanding the phenomena covered by the theories we are trying to teach."
Children's belief that unsupported objects fall downwards, for instance, makes it difficult for them to see the world as a sphere — if it were a sphere, the people and things on the other side should fall off. It is not until about eight or nine years of age that children demonstrate a coherent understanding of a spherical Earth, and younger children often distort the scientific understanding in systematic ways. Some deny that people can live all over the Earth's surface, and, when asked to draw the Earth or model it with clay, some children depict it as a sphere with a flattened top or as a hollow sphere that people live inside.
In some cases, there is such resistance to science education that it never entirely sticks, and foundational biases persist into adulthood. A classic study by Michael McCloskey and his colleagues tested college undergraduates' intuitions about basic physical motions, such as the path that a ball will take when released from a curved tube. Many of the undergraduates retained a common-sense Aristotelian theory of object motion; they predicted that the ball would continue to move in a curved motion, choosing B over A below.
An interesting addendum is that while education does not shake this bias, real-world experience can suffice. In another study, undergraduates were asked about the path that water would take out of a curved hose. This corresponds to an event that most people have seen, and few believed that the water would take a curved path.
Our intuitive psychology also contributes to resistance to science. One significant bias is that children naturally see the world in terms of design and purpose. For instance, four year-olds insist that everything has a purpose, including lions ("to go in the zoo") and clouds ("for raining"), a propensity that Deborah Kelemen has dubbed "promiscuous teleology." Additionally, when asked about the origin of animals and people, children spontaneously tend to provide and to prefer creationist explanations.
Just as children's intuitions about the physical world make it difficult for them to accept that the Earth is a sphere, their psychological intuitions about agency and design make it difficult for them to accept the processes of evolution.
One of the most interesting aspects of our common-sense psychology is dualism, the belief that minds are fundamentally different from brains. This belief comes naturally to children. Preschool children will claim that the brain is responsible for some aspects of mental life, typically those involving deliberative mental work, such as solving math problems. But preschoolers will also claim that the brain isn't involved in a host of other activities, such as pretending to be a kangaroo, loving one's brother, or brushing one's teeth. Similarly, when told about a brain transplant from a boy to a pig, they believe that you get a very smart pig, but one with pig beliefs and pig desires. For young children, then, much of mental life is not linked to the brain.
The strong intuitive pull of dualism makes it difficult for people to accept what Francis Crick called "the astonishing hypothesis." Dualism is mistaken — mental life emerges from physical processes. People resist the astonishing hypothesis in ways that can have considerable social implications. For one thing, debates about the moral status of embryos, fetuses, stem cells, and non-human animals are sometimes framed in terms of whether or not these entities possess immaterial souls. For instance, in their 2003 report (Being Human: Readings from the President's Council on Bioethics), the President's Council described people as follows: "We have both corporeal and noncorporeal aspects. We are embodied spirits and inspirited bodies (or, if you will, embodied minds and minded bodies)."
In addition, certain proposals about the role of imaging data in criminal trials assume a strong form of Cartesian dualism. Some have argued that if one could show that a person's brain is involved in an act, then the person himself or herself is not responsible, an excuse that Michael Gazzaniga dubbed "My brain made me do it." This belief that some of our decisions have nothing to do with our brains reflects a profound resistance to findings from psychology and neuroscience.
One reason why people resist certain scientific findings, then, is that many of these findings are unnatural and unintuitive. But there is more to the story than this. After all, some unintuitive scientific facts come to be broadly accepted. Even though children may initially find it hard to understand that objects are made of tiny particles or that the Earth isn't flat, most everyone comes to accept that these things are true. How does this happen?
Also, there are cultural factors that need to be explained. Americans are not more resistant to science in general. For instance, 1 in 5 American adults believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth, which is somewhat shocking—but the same proportion holds for Germany and Great Britain. But Americans really are special when it comes to certain scientific ideas—and, in particular, with regard to evolutionary theory. The relevant data are shown below, from a 2006 survey published in Science. What explains this culture-specific resistance to evolution?
How children learn
Part of the explanation for resistance to science lies in how children and adults process different sorts of information.
Some culture-specific information is not associated with any particular source. It is "common knowledge." As such, learning of this type of information generally bypasses critical analysis. A prototypical example is that of word meanings. Everyone uses the word "dog" to refer to dogs, so children easily learn that this is what they are called. Other examples include belief in germs and electricity. Their existence is generally assumed in day-to-day conversation and is not marked as uncertain; nobody says that they "believe in electricity." Hence even children and adults with little scientific background believe that these invisible entities really exist, a topic explored in detail by Paul Harris and his colleagues.
Science is not special here. Geographic information and historical information is also typically assumed, which is how an American child comes to believe that there is a faraway place called Africa and that there was a man who lived long ago named Abraham Lincoln. And, in some cultures, certain religious beliefs can be assumed as well. For instance, if the existence of supernatural entities like gods, karma, and ancestor spirits is never questioned by adults in the community, the existence of such entities will be unquestioningly accepted by children.
Other information, however, is explicitly asserted. Such information is associated with certain sources. A child might note that science teachers make surprising claims about the origin of human beings, for instance, while their parents do not. Furthermore, the tentative status of this information is sometimes explicitly marked; people will assert that they "believe in evolution."
When faced with this kind of asserted information, one can occasionally evaluate its truth directly. But in some domains, including much of science, direct evaluation is difficult or impossible. Few of us are qualified to assess claims about the merits of string theory, the role in mercury in the etiology of autism, or the existence of repressed memories. So rather than evaluating the asserted claim itself, we instead evaluate the claim's source. If the source is deemed trustworthy, people will believe the claim, often without really understanding it. As our colleague Frank Keil has discussed, this sort of division of cognitive labor is essential in any complex society, where any single individuals will lack the resources to evaluate all the claims that he or she hears.
This is the case for most scientific beliefs. Consider, for example, that most adults who claim to believe that natural selection can explain the evolution of species are confused about what natural selection actually is—when pressed, they often describe it as a Lamarckian process in which animals somehow give birth to offspring that are better adapted to their environments. Their belief in natural selection, then, is not rooted in an appreciation of the evidence and arguments. Rather, this scientifically credulous sub-population are deferring to the people who say that this is how evolution works. They trust the scientists.
This deference to authority isn't limited to science; the same process holds for certain religious, moral, and political beliefs as well. In an illustrative recent study, subjects were asked their opinion about a social welfare policy, which was described as being endorsed either by Democrats or by Republicans. Although the subjects sincerely believed that their responses were based on the objective merits of the policy, the major determinant of what they thought of the policy was in fact whether or not their favored political party was said to endorse it. More generally, many of the specific moral intuitions held by members of a society appear to be the consequence, not of personal moral contemplation, but of deference to the views of the community.
Adults thus rely on the trustworthiness of the source when deciding which asserted claims to believe. Do children do the same? Recent studies suggest that they do; children, like adults, have at least some capacity to assess the trustworthiness of their information sources. Four- and five-year-olds, for instance, know that adults know things that other children do not (like the meaning of the word "hypochondriac"), and when given conflicting information about a word's meaning from a child and from an adult, they prefer to learn from the adult. They know that adults have different areas of expertise, that doctors know about fixing broken arms and mechanics know about fixing flat tires. They prefer to learn from a knowledgeable speaker than from an ignorant one, and they prefer a confident source to a tentative one. Finally, when five year-olds hear about a competition whose outcome was unclear, they are more likely to believe a character who claimed that he had lost the race (a statement that goes against his self-interest) than a character who claimed that he had won the race (a statement that goes with his self-interest). In a limited sense, then, they are capable of cynicism.
Implications
In sum, the developmental data suggest that resistance to science will arise in children when scientific claims clash with early emerging, intuitive expectations. This resistance will persist through adulthood if the scientific claims are contested within a society, and will be especially strong if there is a non-scientific alternative that is rooted in common sense and championed by people who are taken as reliable and trustworthy. This is the current situation in the United States with regard to the central tenets of neuroscience and of evolutionary biology. These clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals — and, in the United States, these intuitive beliefs are particularly likely to be endorsed and transmitted by trusted religious and political authorities. Hence these are among the domains where Americans' resistance to science is the strongest.
We should stress that this failure to defer to scientists in these domains does not necessarily reflect stupidity, ignorance, or malice. In fact, some skepticism toward scientific authority is clearly rational. Scientists have personal biases due to ego or ambition—no reasonable person should ever believe all the claims made in a grant proposal. There are also political and moral biases, particularly in social science research dealing with contentious issues such as the long-term effects of being raised by gay parents or the explanation for gender differences in SAT scores. It would be naïve to ignore all this, and someone who accepted all "scientific" information would be a patsy. The problem is exaggerated when scientists or scientific organizations try to use their authority to make proclamations about controversial social issues. People who disagree with what scientists have to say about these issues might reasonably infer that it is not safe to defer to them more generally.
But this rejection of science would be mistaken in the end. The community of scientists has a legitimate claim to trustworthiness that other social institutions, such as religions and political movements, lack. The structure of scientific inquiry involves procedures, such as experiments and open debate, that are strikingly successful at revealing truths about the world. All other things being equal, a rational person is wise to defer to a geologist about the age of the earth rather than to a priest or to a politician.
Given the role of trust in social learning, it is particularly worrying that national surveys reflect a general decline in the extent to which people trust scientists. To end on a practical note, then, one way to combat resistance to science is to persuade children and adults that the institute of science is, for the most part, worthy of trust.
[This is a modified version of P. Bloom & D. S. Weisberg, "Childhood origins of adult resistance to science", published in Science, May 18, 2007. This article contains citations of the experimental studies discussed here.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Brockman, Editor and Publisher
Russell Weinberger, Associate Publisher
contact: editor@edge.org
Copyright © 2007 By Edge Foundation, Inc
All Rights Reserved.
Top "
by
the writer
Article
The above link refers to the article that follows. Internet links often get broken. I claim nothing in this other than I am copying the entire article as I found it. I DO hope you just read it when questions of science vs. religion show up.
I also hope the authors will forgive me for including it on my blog. Again, I did not initiate any of their copyrighted material and only want to pass it along because it begins, in part, to explain my annoyance with religion.
The authors did this on their own of course.
The article explains how the religious perpetrate themselves and if you read between the lines, why. If you extend this, well things COULD LIKELY get better, but due to the religious, they are probably not going to in our lifetime.
Again, the authors are not even likely to have even done what I think they did, just that I read the article and it seemed to fit things in my mind.
" Home About Edge Features Edge Editions Press Edge Search
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The developmental data suggest that resistance to science will arise in children when scientific claims clash with early emerging, intuitive expectations. This resistance will persist through adulthood if the scientific claims are contested within a society, and will be especially strong if there is a non-scientific alternative that is rooted in common sense and championed by people who are taken as reliable and trustworthy. This is the current situation in the United States with regard to the central tenets of neuroscience and of evolutionary biology. These clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals — and, in the United States, these intuitive beliefs are particularly likely to be endorsed and transmitted by trusted religious and political authorities. Hence these are among the domains where Americans' resistance to science is the strongest.
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE RESIST SCIENCE?
By Paul Bloom and Deena Skolnick Weisberg
PAUL BLOOM is a psychologist at Yale University and the author of Descartes' Baby. DEENA SKOLNICK WEISBERG is a doctoral candidate in psychology at Yale University.
Paul Bloom's Edge Bio Page
Deena Skolnick Weisberg's Edge Bio Page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE RESIST SCIENCE?
It is no secret that many American adults reject some scientific ideas. In a 2005 Pew Trust poll, for instance, 42% of respondents said that they believed that humans and other animals have existed in their present form since the beginning of time. A substantial minority of Americans, then, deny that evolution has even taken place, making them more radical than "Intelligent Design" theorists, who deny only that natural selection can explain complex design. But evolution is not the only domain in which people reject science: Many believe in the efficacy of unproven medical interventions, the mystical nature of out-of-body experiences, the existence of supernatural entities such as ghosts and fairies, and the legitimacy of astrology, ESP, and divination.
There are two common assumptions about the nature of this resistance. First, it is often assumed to be a particularly American problem, explained in terms of the strong religious beliefs of many American citizens and the anti-science leanings of the dominant political party. Second, the problem is often characterized as the result of insufficient exposure to the relevant scientific facts, and hence is best addressed with improved science education.
We believe that these assumptions, while not completely false, reflect a misunderstanding of the nature of this phenomenon. While cultural factors are plainly relevant, American adults' resistance to scientific ideas reflects universal facts about what children know and how children learn. If this is right, then resistance to science cannot be simply addressed through more education; something different is needed.
What children know
The main source of resistance to scientific ideas concerns what children know prior to their exposure to science. The last several decades of developmental psychology has made it abundantly clear that humans do not start off as "blank slates." Rather, even one year-olds possess a rich understanding of both the physical world (a "naïve physics") and the social world (a "naïve psychology"). Babies know that objects are solid, that they persist over time even when they are out of sight, that they fall to the ground if unsupported, and that they do not move unless acted upon. They also understand that people move autonomously in response to social and physical events, that they act and react in accord with their goals, and that they respond with appropriate emotions to different situations.
These intuitions give children a head start when it comes to understanding and learning about objects and people. But these intuitions also sometimes clash with scientific discoveries about the nature of the world, making certain scientific facts difficult to learn. As Susan Carey once put it, the problem with teaching science to children is "not what the student lacks, but what the student has, namely alternative conceptual frameworks for understanding the phenomena covered by the theories we are trying to teach."
Children's belief that unsupported objects fall downwards, for instance, makes it difficult for them to see the world as a sphere — if it were a sphere, the people and things on the other side should fall off. It is not until about eight or nine years of age that children demonstrate a coherent understanding of a spherical Earth, and younger children often distort the scientific understanding in systematic ways. Some deny that people can live all over the Earth's surface, and, when asked to draw the Earth or model it with clay, some children depict it as a sphere with a flattened top or as a hollow sphere that people live inside.
In some cases, there is such resistance to science education that it never entirely sticks, and foundational biases persist into adulthood. A classic study by Michael McCloskey and his colleagues tested college undergraduates' intuitions about basic physical motions, such as the path that a ball will take when released from a curved tube. Many of the undergraduates retained a common-sense Aristotelian theory of object motion; they predicted that the ball would continue to move in a curved motion, choosing B over A below.
An interesting addendum is that while education does not shake this bias, real-world experience can suffice. In another study, undergraduates were asked about the path that water would take out of a curved hose. This corresponds to an event that most people have seen, and few believed that the water would take a curved path.
Our intuitive psychology also contributes to resistance to science. One significant bias is that children naturally see the world in terms of design and purpose. For instance, four year-olds insist that everything has a purpose, including lions ("to go in the zoo") and clouds ("for raining"), a propensity that Deborah Kelemen has dubbed "promiscuous teleology." Additionally, when asked about the origin of animals and people, children spontaneously tend to provide and to prefer creationist explanations.
Just as children's intuitions about the physical world make it difficult for them to accept that the Earth is a sphere, their psychological intuitions about agency and design make it difficult for them to accept the processes of evolution.
One of the most interesting aspects of our common-sense psychology is dualism, the belief that minds are fundamentally different from brains. This belief comes naturally to children. Preschool children will claim that the brain is responsible for some aspects of mental life, typically those involving deliberative mental work, such as solving math problems. But preschoolers will also claim that the brain isn't involved in a host of other activities, such as pretending to be a kangaroo, loving one's brother, or brushing one's teeth. Similarly, when told about a brain transplant from a boy to a pig, they believe that you get a very smart pig, but one with pig beliefs and pig desires. For young children, then, much of mental life is not linked to the brain.
The strong intuitive pull of dualism makes it difficult for people to accept what Francis Crick called "the astonishing hypothesis." Dualism is mistaken — mental life emerges from physical processes. People resist the astonishing hypothesis in ways that can have considerable social implications. For one thing, debates about the moral status of embryos, fetuses, stem cells, and non-human animals are sometimes framed in terms of whether or not these entities possess immaterial souls. For instance, in their 2003 report (Being Human: Readings from the President's Council on Bioethics), the President's Council described people as follows: "We have both corporeal and noncorporeal aspects. We are embodied spirits and inspirited bodies (or, if you will, embodied minds and minded bodies)."
In addition, certain proposals about the role of imaging data in criminal trials assume a strong form of Cartesian dualism. Some have argued that if one could show that a person's brain is involved in an act, then the person himself or herself is not responsible, an excuse that Michael Gazzaniga dubbed "My brain made me do it." This belief that some of our decisions have nothing to do with our brains reflects a profound resistance to findings from psychology and neuroscience.
One reason why people resist certain scientific findings, then, is that many of these findings are unnatural and unintuitive. But there is more to the story than this. After all, some unintuitive scientific facts come to be broadly accepted. Even though children may initially find it hard to understand that objects are made of tiny particles or that the Earth isn't flat, most everyone comes to accept that these things are true. How does this happen?
Also, there are cultural factors that need to be explained. Americans are not more resistant to science in general. For instance, 1 in 5 American adults believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth, which is somewhat shocking—but the same proportion holds for Germany and Great Britain. But Americans really are special when it comes to certain scientific ideas—and, in particular, with regard to evolutionary theory. The relevant data are shown below, from a 2006 survey published in Science. What explains this culture-specific resistance to evolution?
How children learn
Part of the explanation for resistance to science lies in how children and adults process different sorts of information.
Some culture-specific information is not associated with any particular source. It is "common knowledge." As such, learning of this type of information generally bypasses critical analysis. A prototypical example is that of word meanings. Everyone uses the word "dog" to refer to dogs, so children easily learn that this is what they are called. Other examples include belief in germs and electricity. Their existence is generally assumed in day-to-day conversation and is not marked as uncertain; nobody says that they "believe in electricity." Hence even children and adults with little scientific background believe that these invisible entities really exist, a topic explored in detail by Paul Harris and his colleagues.
Science is not special here. Geographic information and historical information is also typically assumed, which is how an American child comes to believe that there is a faraway place called Africa and that there was a man who lived long ago named Abraham Lincoln. And, in some cultures, certain religious beliefs can be assumed as well. For instance, if the existence of supernatural entities like gods, karma, and ancestor spirits is never questioned by adults in the community, the existence of such entities will be unquestioningly accepted by children.
Other information, however, is explicitly asserted. Such information is associated with certain sources. A child might note that science teachers make surprising claims about the origin of human beings, for instance, while their parents do not. Furthermore, the tentative status of this information is sometimes explicitly marked; people will assert that they "believe in evolution."
When faced with this kind of asserted information, one can occasionally evaluate its truth directly. But in some domains, including much of science, direct evaluation is difficult or impossible. Few of us are qualified to assess claims about the merits of string theory, the role in mercury in the etiology of autism, or the existence of repressed memories. So rather than evaluating the asserted claim itself, we instead evaluate the claim's source. If the source is deemed trustworthy, people will believe the claim, often without really understanding it. As our colleague Frank Keil has discussed, this sort of division of cognitive labor is essential in any complex society, where any single individuals will lack the resources to evaluate all the claims that he or she hears.
This is the case for most scientific beliefs. Consider, for example, that most adults who claim to believe that natural selection can explain the evolution of species are confused about what natural selection actually is—when pressed, they often describe it as a Lamarckian process in which animals somehow give birth to offspring that are better adapted to their environments. Their belief in natural selection, then, is not rooted in an appreciation of the evidence and arguments. Rather, this scientifically credulous sub-population are deferring to the people who say that this is how evolution works. They trust the scientists.
This deference to authority isn't limited to science; the same process holds for certain religious, moral, and political beliefs as well. In an illustrative recent study, subjects were asked their opinion about a social welfare policy, which was described as being endorsed either by Democrats or by Republicans. Although the subjects sincerely believed that their responses were based on the objective merits of the policy, the major determinant of what they thought of the policy was in fact whether or not their favored political party was said to endorse it. More generally, many of the specific moral intuitions held by members of a society appear to be the consequence, not of personal moral contemplation, but of deference to the views of the community.
Adults thus rely on the trustworthiness of the source when deciding which asserted claims to believe. Do children do the same? Recent studies suggest that they do; children, like adults, have at least some capacity to assess the trustworthiness of their information sources. Four- and five-year-olds, for instance, know that adults know things that other children do not (like the meaning of the word "hypochondriac"), and when given conflicting information about a word's meaning from a child and from an adult, they prefer to learn from the adult. They know that adults have different areas of expertise, that doctors know about fixing broken arms and mechanics know about fixing flat tires. They prefer to learn from a knowledgeable speaker than from an ignorant one, and they prefer a confident source to a tentative one. Finally, when five year-olds hear about a competition whose outcome was unclear, they are more likely to believe a character who claimed that he had lost the race (a statement that goes against his self-interest) than a character who claimed that he had won the race (a statement that goes with his self-interest). In a limited sense, then, they are capable of cynicism.
Implications
In sum, the developmental data suggest that resistance to science will arise in children when scientific claims clash with early emerging, intuitive expectations. This resistance will persist through adulthood if the scientific claims are contested within a society, and will be especially strong if there is a non-scientific alternative that is rooted in common sense and championed by people who are taken as reliable and trustworthy. This is the current situation in the United States with regard to the central tenets of neuroscience and of evolutionary biology. These clash with intuitive beliefs about the immaterial nature of the soul and the purposeful design of humans and other animals — and, in the United States, these intuitive beliefs are particularly likely to be endorsed and transmitted by trusted religious and political authorities. Hence these are among the domains where Americans' resistance to science is the strongest.
We should stress that this failure to defer to scientists in these domains does not necessarily reflect stupidity, ignorance, or malice. In fact, some skepticism toward scientific authority is clearly rational. Scientists have personal biases due to ego or ambition—no reasonable person should ever believe all the claims made in a grant proposal. There are also political and moral biases, particularly in social science research dealing with contentious issues such as the long-term effects of being raised by gay parents or the explanation for gender differences in SAT scores. It would be naïve to ignore all this, and someone who accepted all "scientific" information would be a patsy. The problem is exaggerated when scientists or scientific organizations try to use their authority to make proclamations about controversial social issues. People who disagree with what scientists have to say about these issues might reasonably infer that it is not safe to defer to them more generally.
But this rejection of science would be mistaken in the end. The community of scientists has a legitimate claim to trustworthiness that other social institutions, such as religions and political movements, lack. The structure of scientific inquiry involves procedures, such as experiments and open debate, that are strikingly successful at revealing truths about the world. All other things being equal, a rational person is wise to defer to a geologist about the age of the earth rather than to a priest or to a politician.
Given the role of trust in social learning, it is particularly worrying that national surveys reflect a general decline in the extent to which people trust scientists. To end on a practical note, then, one way to combat resistance to science is to persuade children and adults that the institute of science is, for the most part, worthy of trust.
[This is a modified version of P. Bloom & D. S. Weisberg, "Childhood origins of adult resistance to science", published in Science, May 18, 2007. This article contains citations of the experimental studies discussed here.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Brockman, Editor and Publisher
Russell Weinberger, Associate Publisher
contact: editor@edge.org
Copyright © 2007 By Edge Foundation, Inc
All Rights Reserved.
Top "
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Morning Smile
Morning Smile
by
Robin Hall with a little help from my friend
You know what I mean here, a morning smile. Each of us wants this. We often go to the ends of the earth to find it, preserve it. We hope we deserve it, a morning smile.
You know the sort I am talking about. Only you ever get to see it. Unfettered love backs up the smile. Its just for you and yours. You smile back and you would give your life for that person, your very life.
Morning laugh.
Morning sex.
Look within. Isn't that how you really want to start your day and end it? A simple morning or evening smile.
by
Robin Hall with a little help from my friend
You know what I mean here, a morning smile. Each of us wants this. We often go to the ends of the earth to find it, preserve it. We hope we deserve it, a morning smile.
You know the sort I am talking about. Only you ever get to see it. Unfettered love backs up the smile. Its just for you and yours. You smile back and you would give your life for that person, your very life.
Morning laugh.
Morning sex.
Look within. Isn't that how you really want to start your day and end it? A simple morning or evening smile.
Black Snake Moan, My View
Black Snake Moan, My View
by
Robin Hall
I have watched over 3000 movies and rated each of them with Xs. Yesterday, 13 had earned my top xxxxx level. Today there are 14.
Black Snake Moan is like a paradigm shift in film making. A simple story with writing, acting, directing and shooting that goes beyond
I am still in tears
Without even a hint of button pushing this film enveloped me in a mist that unlocked my soul for a while and refreshed my mind
Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, John Cothran Jr., S. Epatha Merkerson and director Craig Brewer plus the editor, shooter and writers Sometimes a film does something so powerful its beyond words.
by
Robin Hall
I have watched over 3000 movies and rated each of them with Xs. Yesterday, 13 had earned my top xxxxx level. Today there are 14.
Black Snake Moan is like a paradigm shift in film making. A simple story with writing, acting, directing and shooting that goes beyond
I am still in tears
Without even a hint of button pushing this film enveloped me in a mist that unlocked my soul for a while and refreshed my mind
Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci, John Cothran Jr., S. Epatha Merkerson and director Craig Brewer plus the editor, shooter and writers Sometimes a film does something so powerful its beyond words.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Just Say No to Food
Just Say No to Food
by
Robin Hall
Earlier I was having a bit of acid reflux / heartburn etc. The causes were many. I read up on it and my entire stock of food is attacking my stomach.
Taming of the acid is a bit tricky. I SERIOUSLY suggest you check with more than one doctor if this remains problematic and don't listen to anything I say. I am not a doctor, don't play one on TV and don't even have one to play with.
We can seriously over react and head for the H2 receptor antagonists or proton pump inhibitors right off or save them for later. That is my choice.
In the meanwhile we can use various antacids like baking soda, calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide. Each of these have problems if used at all or to excess. One problem is throwing our electrolytes out of whack. I hate it when that happens but these are cheap and fast.
We can search the Internet.
Well, isn't this special? One site recommends unsalted almonds. Scrolling down, white vinegar is also a cure. I am skeptical about each of these so-called cures and the site itself.
GERD is an acronym that shows up. Its scary.
I googled " heartburn " , " heartburn remedies " , " acid reflux. " I also googled " heartburn milk " and " heartburn tomatoes " which I eat a lot of. Also " heartburn cheese, " " heartburn salt " and " heartburn beer. " I have a limited diet.
In MANY resource sites we are told to avoid most food, certainly most good food:
Citrus fruits, yet each of them have wonderful antioxidant properties and taste good.
Chocolate is on most lists. Who in their right minds would delete this for more than a few days? Drat, this is really upsetting me. I have very little left after the following items.
Drinks with caffeine, alcohol and beer are especially said to produce acid. Beer is really the culprit and it just tastes so good, so fucking what?
Drink it, take an antacid. Down the coffee, tea, chocolate and do what you can. Other items to follow.
An insert here. I read a study just now and 7 cups of coffee a day cut acid reflux. I am wondering if the coffee industry funded this study? And there would be many trips to the loo.
Insert 2. The above mentioned study suggested that spirits did not increase stomach acid or acid reflux. WTF?
I KNOW I am not like many folks but when the food journalists and researchers can change their views in the same week, isn't something basically wrong?
Back to the foods. Fatty and fried foods? WTF? This leaves out all fast food, most Chinese food and so many other country's basic foods, especially Southern USA foods, well we are all in trouble. Just watch the Food Channel's Paula's Home Cooking show which would include about two total recipes that are NOT fatty or fried.
BUTTER RULES, tastes good and should be completely excluded from food lists that exclude foods.
Garlic and onions? I eat most everything with garlic and onions. There is no tasty cuisine I know of that leaves out garlic and onions. These bad food lists are annoying.
Mint flavorings. Oy. I cannot even use my toothpaste without risking heartburn. I cannot gargle, brush or tune up my enamel.
: ^ (
Spicy foods. By this time just what is left? Its the spice of life is just so in our culture.
Hmm. No spice. Do you really want to dine on the Russian delicacy pelmeni for the rest of your life? Its worse. Pelmeni is a bit of beef and pork surrounded by dough and boiled. No spice. Ok, the recipe can involve spice but the ones I had while there did not.
Dull fucking food without spice or salt. We are just about left with eating bananas, apples and broiled chicken or fish.
Tomato based foods, like spaghetti sauce, salsa, chili, tomato juice, V8 juice, bloody Marys and pizza. Now this really pisses me off since even moderately heated tomato sauce is rich in lycopene another fine antioxidant.
Well, you can see MY problem here. There isn't anything left to eat.
I don't think sushi is on any of the DON'T FUCKING EAT THIS lists but really. Estimates for a true and safe sushi master's meal ranges upwards from $500.
I was watching Tony Bourdain's excellent No Reservations. He was IN Japan at a small mom and pop sushi restaurant. He trusted the fare. A single raw mollusk was $50. So sushi is off my menu.
Well prepared venison would be OK. WalMart has no venison here in SE TN.
Low fat beef on occasion is OK. Most meats are OK, sometimes, but only the lean bits. This leaves out all pork, all the tasty beef parts, all of everything.
We are told that sea creatures contain heavy metal. I wish my bank had plenty of gold in my account, but no.
Nickle and lead are in tuna, salmon, mackerel, shrimp etc. Drat. They are out too. No lobster either.
Most grains can cause allergies. Most legumes: peas, peanuts, some beans; nuts of all sorts.
Now see here. If I can't fucking eat a fucking peanut butter sandwich, someone is going to pay.
I just looked in my pantry. I have navy beans that MAY be OK. I have LOTS of chocolate. Not good. Peppermints galore. Not good. Pickles with too much salt, vinegar, ketchup, pasta sauce, mustard. All contain too much salt and spices.
My freezer has tomato juice, pasta sauce, grains, breads, seven different nuts, all that chocolate I am not supposed to have, coffee. There is ice cream, Breyers Lactose free, the good stuff with all that fat.
There IS powdered fat free milk, slightly less of a problem. I have some frozen vegetables in the OK list, a few frozen fruits. Some of the juices are OK but not orange or grapefruit, which itself can interfere with many medications.
There is one logical thing at this point. Have a bloody Mary, go down the street for a pepperoni pizza, toss back a few beers and hope I don't need to sleep for another 25 hours.
Another problem for quelling heartburn, one is not supposed to eat within 4 hours of sleep. For me its closer to 12 hours. Isn't this getting out of hand?
Food should be refreshing, nourishing and fun if taken in a congenial atmosphere but what am I supposed to eat even IF I had friends and a nice place to eat in?
This rant ends soon. Please be patient.
Questions still abound. What IS fat free sour cream? What is fat free ice cream? What do these things even mean?
Are such products the literal deconstruction [google that word for fun] of the English language or just big business realizing how much we love fat and that there is a niche market for many others who want to cut down on fat?
Really.
One other item. This is just wishful thinking on my part. I suppose its an attempt to find some meaning in life but what if none of this mattered if meals were taken with loving friends and family in a calm atmosphere? Would any food actually harm us?
by
Robin Hall
Earlier I was having a bit of acid reflux / heartburn etc. The causes were many. I read up on it and my entire stock of food is attacking my stomach.
Taming of the acid is a bit tricky. I SERIOUSLY suggest you check with more than one doctor if this remains problematic and don't listen to anything I say. I am not a doctor, don't play one on TV and don't even have one to play with.
We can seriously over react and head for the H2 receptor antagonists or proton pump inhibitors right off or save them for later. That is my choice.
In the meanwhile we can use various antacids like baking soda, calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide. Each of these have problems if used at all or to excess. One problem is throwing our electrolytes out of whack. I hate it when that happens but these are cheap and fast.
We can search the Internet.
Well, isn't this special? One site recommends unsalted almonds. Scrolling down, white vinegar is also a cure. I am skeptical about each of these so-called cures and the site itself.
GERD is an acronym that shows up. Its scary.
I googled " heartburn " , " heartburn remedies " , " acid reflux. " I also googled " heartburn milk " and " heartburn tomatoes " which I eat a lot of. Also " heartburn cheese, " " heartburn salt " and " heartburn beer. " I have a limited diet.
In MANY resource sites we are told to avoid most food, certainly most good food:
Citrus fruits, yet each of them have wonderful antioxidant properties and taste good.
Chocolate is on most lists. Who in their right minds would delete this for more than a few days? Drat, this is really upsetting me. I have very little left after the following items.
Drinks with caffeine, alcohol and beer are especially said to produce acid. Beer is really the culprit and it just tastes so good, so fucking what?
Drink it, take an antacid. Down the coffee, tea, chocolate and do what you can. Other items to follow.
An insert here. I read a study just now and 7 cups of coffee a day cut acid reflux. I am wondering if the coffee industry funded this study? And there would be many trips to the loo.
Insert 2. The above mentioned study suggested that spirits did not increase stomach acid or acid reflux. WTF?
I KNOW I am not like many folks but when the food journalists and researchers can change their views in the same week, isn't something basically wrong?
Back to the foods. Fatty and fried foods? WTF? This leaves out all fast food, most Chinese food and so many other country's basic foods, especially Southern USA foods, well we are all in trouble. Just watch the Food Channel's Paula's Home Cooking show which would include about two total recipes that are NOT fatty or fried.
BUTTER RULES, tastes good and should be completely excluded from food lists that exclude foods.
Garlic and onions? I eat most everything with garlic and onions. There is no tasty cuisine I know of that leaves out garlic and onions. These bad food lists are annoying.
Mint flavorings. Oy. I cannot even use my toothpaste without risking heartburn. I cannot gargle, brush or tune up my enamel.
: ^ (
Spicy foods. By this time just what is left? Its the spice of life is just so in our culture.
Hmm. No spice. Do you really want to dine on the Russian delicacy pelmeni for the rest of your life? Its worse. Pelmeni is a bit of beef and pork surrounded by dough and boiled. No spice. Ok, the recipe can involve spice but the ones I had while there did not.
Dull fucking food without spice or salt. We are just about left with eating bananas, apples and broiled chicken or fish.
Tomato based foods, like spaghetti sauce, salsa, chili, tomato juice, V8 juice, bloody Marys and pizza. Now this really pisses me off since even moderately heated tomato sauce is rich in lycopene another fine antioxidant.
Well, you can see MY problem here. There isn't anything left to eat.
I don't think sushi is on any of the DON'T FUCKING EAT THIS lists but really. Estimates for a true and safe sushi master's meal ranges upwards from $500.
I was watching Tony Bourdain's excellent No Reservations. He was IN Japan at a small mom and pop sushi restaurant. He trusted the fare. A single raw mollusk was $50. So sushi is off my menu.
Well prepared venison would be OK. WalMart has no venison here in SE TN.
Low fat beef on occasion is OK. Most meats are OK, sometimes, but only the lean bits. This leaves out all pork, all the tasty beef parts, all of everything.
We are told that sea creatures contain heavy metal. I wish my bank had plenty of gold in my account, but no.
Nickle and lead are in tuna, salmon, mackerel, shrimp etc. Drat. They are out too. No lobster either.
Most grains can cause allergies. Most legumes: peas, peanuts, some beans; nuts of all sorts.
Now see here. If I can't fucking eat a fucking peanut butter sandwich, someone is going to pay.
I just looked in my pantry. I have navy beans that MAY be OK. I have LOTS of chocolate. Not good. Peppermints galore. Not good. Pickles with too much salt, vinegar, ketchup, pasta sauce, mustard. All contain too much salt and spices.
My freezer has tomato juice, pasta sauce, grains, breads, seven different nuts, all that chocolate I am not supposed to have, coffee. There is ice cream, Breyers Lactose free, the good stuff with all that fat.
There IS powdered fat free milk, slightly less of a problem. I have some frozen vegetables in the OK list, a few frozen fruits. Some of the juices are OK but not orange or grapefruit, which itself can interfere with many medications.
There is one logical thing at this point. Have a bloody Mary, go down the street for a pepperoni pizza, toss back a few beers and hope I don't need to sleep for another 25 hours.
Another problem for quelling heartburn, one is not supposed to eat within 4 hours of sleep. For me its closer to 12 hours. Isn't this getting out of hand?
Food should be refreshing, nourishing and fun if taken in a congenial atmosphere but what am I supposed to eat even IF I had friends and a nice place to eat in?
This rant ends soon. Please be patient.
Questions still abound. What IS fat free sour cream? What is fat free ice cream? What do these things even mean?
Are such products the literal deconstruction [google that word for fun] of the English language or just big business realizing how much we love fat and that there is a niche market for many others who want to cut down on fat?
Really.
One other item. This is just wishful thinking on my part. I suppose its an attempt to find some meaning in life but what if none of this mattered if meals were taken with loving friends and family in a calm atmosphere? Would any food actually harm us?
Real Memories 1
Real Memories 1: Early drinking problem and psyc wards.
by
Robin Hall
The day I graduated from college I put wine and Rice Crispies in the blender for breakfast. I don't recall the rest of that glorious day. I got my degree, my diploma. I woke up another day. That was Dec. 1974 or maybe it was August.
I was married. We drove to FL to work with John Costaine McCamy in Human Life styling. That lasted a month.
I got a teaching assistant ship to a school in Omaha. I went. Three months after arriving I tried to electrocute myself and spent 2 months at Nebraska Psychiatric Institute. It was pretty good except they gave me anti psychotics instead of anti depressants.
One day they gave me prolixin. The next day I was literally walking in circles. It seemed my left foot was nailed to the floor. They gave me something to relieve this.
My wife left me for another woman just before I went into the hospital. She stole my car, my records. She did not give the cats away, tend to them. I got back to the house a month later, I had two one-month admittances, the poor cats were roaming around the house hungry, thirsty etc. They had peed everywhere.
I got my MA from Florida State University, August 1982. I had spent the week previous to finals in the local mental hospital. Florida had some deal where you got out in a week, no there was a 4 day hold. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was two weeks.
The day after I got my MA I drove up to Atlanta and headed immediately back to FL. I lived with my grandma for several years, taught 24 sections of speech in the local Community College, worked at Florida State Prison for a month.
I took 1800 Mg. of lithium a day for 2 years, some tricyclics in addition, for half that time. I slept a LOT. I only missed two classes in 3 years at PBJC. I don't recall a single student's name. I recall one face.
Real memories, for me, are often that I didn't recall any memories from some time or other. Long fugue states seem to have happened. Most of my life is a fugue.
by
Robin Hall
The day I graduated from college I put wine and Rice Crispies in the blender for breakfast. I don't recall the rest of that glorious day. I got my degree, my diploma. I woke up another day. That was Dec. 1974 or maybe it was August.
I was married. We drove to FL to work with John Costaine McCamy in Human Life styling. That lasted a month.
I got a teaching assistant ship to a school in Omaha. I went. Three months after arriving I tried to electrocute myself and spent 2 months at Nebraska Psychiatric Institute. It was pretty good except they gave me anti psychotics instead of anti depressants.
One day they gave me prolixin. The next day I was literally walking in circles. It seemed my left foot was nailed to the floor. They gave me something to relieve this.
My wife left me for another woman just before I went into the hospital. She stole my car, my records. She did not give the cats away, tend to them. I got back to the house a month later, I had two one-month admittances, the poor cats were roaming around the house hungry, thirsty etc. They had peed everywhere.
I got my MA from Florida State University, August 1982. I had spent the week previous to finals in the local mental hospital. Florida had some deal where you got out in a week, no there was a 4 day hold. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was two weeks.
The day after I got my MA I drove up to Atlanta and headed immediately back to FL. I lived with my grandma for several years, taught 24 sections of speech in the local Community College, worked at Florida State Prison for a month.
I took 1800 Mg. of lithium a day for 2 years, some tricyclics in addition, for half that time. I slept a LOT. I only missed two classes in 3 years at PBJC. I don't recall a single student's name. I recall one face.
Real memories, for me, are often that I didn't recall any memories from some time or other. Long fugue states seem to have happened. Most of my life is a fugue.
Borked
Borked
by
Robin Hall and Others
Borked is not a word, nor is doh. Yet, when I updated / pinged my blogs at Technorati both were used to tell me their site was down.
I actually understood each word at a different level which essentially was: "Oops our site is fucked," or with yet other words, "We are sorry for the inconvenience, our site is not working right now."
I liked their version but can you feature any English speaking person ANYWHERE in the world, however fluent but without the Internet to check current word usage, understanding this slang? Still its fun.
Wouldn't it be neat to have a comedy show, say Get Your Freak On, International, where top comics from anywhere who were totally fluent in English, vie for the ca$h as TOP Freakin' International Comic? I would watch it.
Imagine Scots, Americans, Irish, English, South Africans, New Zealanders, Canadians, Australians, real Indians and whoever the fuck else was fluent / had nailed our HUGE language, with whatever accent, ALL competing and what fun we could have checking out who would be the top freaking English speaking comic in the whole world?
There could local tryouts in virtually any country in the world for half hour shows. Regionals etc. There could be videos sold for the top comics in each venue.
In the end ONE person would actually BE the funniest person ANY English speaking human in the world. This person would have simply shattered the funny bones of more humans than anyone in HISTORY, other than some of the politicians...
by
Robin Hall and Others
Borked is not a word, nor is doh. Yet, when I updated / pinged my blogs at Technorati both were used to tell me their site was down.
I actually understood each word at a different level which essentially was: "Oops our site is fucked," or with yet other words, "We are sorry for the inconvenience, our site is not working right now."
I liked their version but can you feature any English speaking person ANYWHERE in the world, however fluent but without the Internet to check current word usage, understanding this slang? Still its fun.
Wouldn't it be neat to have a comedy show, say Get Your Freak On, International, where top comics from anywhere who were totally fluent in English, vie for the ca$h as TOP Freakin' International Comic? I would watch it.
Imagine Scots, Americans, Irish, English, South Africans, New Zealanders, Canadians, Australians, real Indians and whoever the fuck else was fluent / had nailed our HUGE language, with whatever accent, ALL competing and what fun we could have checking out who would be the top freaking English speaking comic in the whole world?
There could local tryouts in virtually any country in the world for half hour shows. Regionals etc. There could be videos sold for the top comics in each venue.
In the end ONE person would actually BE the funniest person ANY English speaking human in the world. This person would have simply shattered the funny bones of more humans than anyone in HISTORY, other than some of the politicians...
Monday, June 25, 2007
6 to 9
6 to 9
by
Robin Hall
Every da is dayja vu,
Every night's a nightmare 2.
Sittin' here doing 6 to 9,
All I got is lots of time.
Others here they doing life,
Outta the cell, lotsa strife.
Stayin inside, goin outta my mind
Go outside, you in the grind.
You got no friends when you inside.
Everyone wants to have a ride.
Read all day, cry all night
Guys and gals, you best learn how to fight.
by
Robin Hall
Every da is dayja vu,
Every night's a nightmare 2.
Sittin' here doing 6 to 9,
All I got is lots of time.
Others here they doing life,
Outta the cell, lotsa strife.
Stayin inside, goin outta my mind
Go outside, you in the grind.
You got no friends when you inside.
Everyone wants to have a ride.
Read all day, cry all night
Guys and gals, you best learn how to fight.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
What to Watch on TV
What to Watch on TV
by
Robin Hall
Ultimate Fighter OR Giada in Paradise were my choices on the last VCR tape. I rarely choose, just watch.
UF was silly. I wrote SpikeTV and suggested they take the gloves off, open the fights to everyone and see if their ratings improved. No answer.
Giada is a Food Network cook with 4 star "C" cup cleavage. I opted for her show.
DRAT. I cannot even watch the show for the cleavage. Its like a cobra and the waving of the pipe by a snake charmer. OK, for me, more like a small grass snake and a snack, but still.
I have 148 more tapes to choose from.
Confusion reigns. I am drenched. Its 4:15 AM. Drunk as usual.
by
Robin Hall
Ultimate Fighter OR Giada in Paradise were my choices on the last VCR tape. I rarely choose, just watch.
UF was silly. I wrote SpikeTV and suggested they take the gloves off, open the fights to everyone and see if their ratings improved. No answer.
Giada is a Food Network cook with 4 star "C" cup cleavage. I opted for her show.
DRAT. I cannot even watch the show for the cleavage. Its like a cobra and the waving of the pipe by a snake charmer. OK, for me, more like a small grass snake and a snack, but still.
I have 148 more tapes to choose from.
Confusion reigns. I am drenched. Its 4:15 AM. Drunk as usual.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Blood, Water and Truth
Blood, Water and Truth
by
Robin Hall
This one is short.
Blood ties: paternity, maternity, sorority, fraternity. Its my experience that all these so-called blood-ties are simply bull shit, per se, and NOT thicker than water. NO ONE chooses family AND family often UN-chooses its own members.
Sometimes we find our true family, or begin one. I am guessing mostly we are neither born into our ONE true family nor do we find our own. I am guessing we spend much of our lives TRYING to find our family, trying to find our own true family or some ONE/S.
Ask yourself this current question. How is that going for you? Answer. Look into the fucking mirror of your life and ANSWER, for once in your life ANSWER, truthfully.
Are you with who you want to be with or are you not?
by
Robin Hall
This one is short.
Blood ties: paternity, maternity, sorority, fraternity. Its my experience that all these so-called blood-ties are simply bull shit, per se, and NOT thicker than water. NO ONE chooses family AND family often UN-chooses its own members.
Sometimes we find our true family, or begin one. I am guessing mostly we are neither born into our ONE true family nor do we find our own. I am guessing we spend much of our lives TRYING to find our family, trying to find our own true family or some ONE/S.
Ask yourself this current question. How is that going for you? Answer. Look into the fucking mirror of your life and ANSWER, for once in your life ANSWER, truthfully.
Are you with who you want to be with or are you not?
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Waging Beauty & Wonder
Waging Beauty & Wonder
by
Robin Hall, and a friend
Maybe we make up even this notion, a transcendental experience. What if children were allowed to develop completely apart from gods, religions and Jung? Would this sort of experience not then fall to them as well BUT they would have knowledge to integrate it?
As they are growing they are introduced to all the best the world offers from, say, 4 languages to be fluent in, to maths, musics, all the arts and not just in viewing, but participating, creating.
Then as time passes, the children are introduced to the past and to the present.
They are introduced to the range of human behaviors and emotions, shown that what they are learning is completely unique and they will be forever unable to discuss their background with OTHERS but they will be introduced to the skills needed to interact with virtually any others.
They learn many games of chance, sports, a serious martial art like tai chi from early youth. Acting as well so they can hide what they know from anyone.
They learn to survive on their own in any situation over time.
Then what would they be? New humans with a different chance in the world at large. Maybe they would have a chance to change the world, maybe to make it through any disaster we might face.
Stories might be written about them or they might go un-noticed ever and just wage BEAUTY and WONDER within society.
Maybe its already happening in ways that don't seem like beauty and wonder. Maybe the carpenter down the street, working 10 hour days to feed his family AND make nice houses is part of the beauty. Maybe the janitor working for his or her family is the wonder.
Plain folks doing the right thing, taking care of business. There may be hope for us yet.
by
Robin Hall, and a friend
Maybe we make up even this notion, a transcendental experience. What if children were allowed to develop completely apart from gods, religions and Jung? Would this sort of experience not then fall to them as well BUT they would have knowledge to integrate it?
As they are growing they are introduced to all the best the world offers from, say, 4 languages to be fluent in, to maths, musics, all the arts and not just in viewing, but participating, creating.
Then as time passes, the children are introduced to the past and to the present.
They are introduced to the range of human behaviors and emotions, shown that what they are learning is completely unique and they will be forever unable to discuss their background with OTHERS but they will be introduced to the skills needed to interact with virtually any others.
They learn many games of chance, sports, a serious martial art like tai chi from early youth. Acting as well so they can hide what they know from anyone.
They learn to survive on their own in any situation over time.
Then what would they be? New humans with a different chance in the world at large. Maybe they would have a chance to change the world, maybe to make it through any disaster we might face.
Stories might be written about them or they might go un-noticed ever and just wage BEAUTY and WONDER within society.
Maybe its already happening in ways that don't seem like beauty and wonder. Maybe the carpenter down the street, working 10 hour days to feed his family AND make nice houses is part of the beauty. Maybe the janitor working for his or her family is the wonder.
Plain folks doing the right thing, taking care of business. There may be hope for us yet.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Bestiality, Its Not New
Bestiality, Its Not New
by
Robin Hall
For the most part, I think bestiality is wrong. This is not some silly religionist view or moral issue.
Humans need some standards and this should be one. Don't fuck animals. Its almost always rape. Period. Especially when its a man and animal.
Sometimes an animal might have fun with a woman, sometimes but NO human could ever know, EVER.
Now the Internet lets us view humans communing with animals. I checked out pictures at one point in my life.
One was actually funny. It was a woman being fucked by a VERY large dog from behind.
Dog and woman were going at it, seemed to be having fun AND both were looking to their right into the camera's lens. Neither were embarrassed. We all need to ponder such behavior.
I hesitate to mention this but there was another instance that seemed OK. A VERY sick looking woman was having it off with a dog. Likely her illness was terminal AND contagious.
I am sure there is little research here but IF she was a decent person, had determined the dog would not be harmed by the human / dog illness, well, why not? This congress would be better than infecting a human and IF each had fun, again, why not?
Is this more than we should be chatting about?
by
Robin Hall
For the most part, I think bestiality is wrong. This is not some silly religionist view or moral issue.
Humans need some standards and this should be one. Don't fuck animals. Its almost always rape. Period. Especially when its a man and animal.
Sometimes an animal might have fun with a woman, sometimes but NO human could ever know, EVER.
Now the Internet lets us view humans communing with animals. I checked out pictures at one point in my life.
One was actually funny. It was a woman being fucked by a VERY large dog from behind.
Dog and woman were going at it, seemed to be having fun AND both were looking to their right into the camera's lens. Neither were embarrassed. We all need to ponder such behavior.
I hesitate to mention this but there was another instance that seemed OK. A VERY sick looking woman was having it off with a dog. Likely her illness was terminal AND contagious.
I am sure there is little research here but IF she was a decent person, had determined the dog would not be harmed by the human / dog illness, well, why not? This congress would be better than infecting a human and IF each had fun, again, why not?
Is this more than we should be chatting about?
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