The Path of Insanity

Why religion should be good for nature, but isn't

2009-07-21T04:59:00.002-10:00

It's quite simple, logically, ignoring for the moment the fact that most people are as far away from logical as possible. Of course, the other and equally bad extremely is being nothing but logical...

Anyway, Christians, Muslims, Jews, and various other monotheistic God-of-Abraham sects believe in something they cannot see, and will never see in this lifetime - their god. Yet they believe - or claim to believe - in this god. So they take on faith something they cannot see, and even claim to feel the effects of. I believe this is pretty much undebatable. This is what faith implies, however you implement it.

What else on "God's green earth" cannot be seen but you can feel the effects of?

Air.

Well, I know these people believe in air because they breathe it and will die in moments without it. What I want to know is, if these people believe in their god and think this god should be treated with the utmost respect, shouldn't air, which we also cannot see but feel the effects of, be treated with respect? Yet, there are Christians who want to dirty things up as much as possible to bring on something called a "rapture", which I and other rational people call "disaster".

Another point: these believers believe their god created everything, ergo this god created the air we breathe. Excuse me, but isn't it disrespectful of said god to foul and pollute His Work and Creation?

Hm.

Verizon Voyages

2009-07-14T10:31:00.003-10:00

About six months ago my girlfriend and I decided to change the way we handled our internet service from Verizon and put it in her name instead of mine.

And that's about the only thing that went smoothly.

Sure, we continued to receive DSL service, but that's probably because of incompetence on their part, to be objective about it. That worked in our favour, of course, but I think that's the reason. If I ran a business, I wouldn't let a customer go 6 months without paying! Still have the same DSL service as I'm typing this, still haven't paid, although we'll get to that part of the story soon.

So, six months ago, my girlfriend called Verzion and they were happy to oblige us by changing the service over to her name and sending her a paper bill in the mail. She gave them her name, confirmed our address as the correct billing address. At this time, I must note that the old billing info contained the same address and I saw it when I used to check the account online.

Months go by. No bill. We wonder what happened, but we continued to get service, and frankly, we had more important things to worry about. We weren't going to be bothered by Korporate inKompetence.

This morning, I check my catch-all email inbox and there's a "past due notice" from Verizon, to the tune of about $250 or so. I told dear GF about it and forwarded the email to her so she could look at it from her day-job office and handle it if necessary. When I checked the account online, the bill was in her name, so she called them.

The first thing that Verizon fudged up was the phone number in the email - not in service. Imagine. A phone number from the phone company not in service.

The second - and bizarre - thing Verizon fiascoed was the address. Rememeber what I said about the billing address earlier? Verizon had on their records a PO box I had rented - and discontinued - LONG before moving into our currently lovely abode. I never gave them that PO box, since it wasn't mine any longer, not to mention irrelevant to my current digs. So I have no clue what happened on that one.

The third thing they have done wrong to screw this all up is outsource their customer service. Yes, I know everybody does it, blah, blah, blah, save it. You just NEVER set up your customer service center on the other side of the world from your customers. That's just Good Business 101. If as a business you do not know this, save yourself the hassle of going out of business right now.

Anyway, at the moment, we haven't figured out what to do with this amusing little mess. If we had a good alternative to internet service in this area, we'd just ditch them and report them to any relevant consumer protection organizations and maybe the FCC, for their massive incompetence.

You know, the billing address thing is what gets me. Why is my name stuck to a old PO box that isn't mine and hasn't been for 2 or 3 years? What is wrong with people? Idiocracy, here we come!

Choose - or die

2009-07-09T02:58:00.002-10:00

The reasons for global warming, as touted, are too general and vague. Car emissions, factories, illegal dumping by corporations, big oil and gas, etc.

Baloney!

Before you think I'm one of those idiots with their heads in the sand, let me say that I know for a fact global warming is true. I just want people to acknowledge the real reason for it.

And the real reason is the individual choices of billions of people.

Billions of people choose to buy gas for their cars, lawn mowers and other machines.

Billions of people choose to buy and use products that are unnecessarily made with oil-based plastic.

Billions of people choose to simply throw things away.

Billions of people choose to simply not bother with re-using or recycling things.

Billions of people choose to use their gas-powered cars to drive somewhere they could walk.

Billions of people choose to buy gas-powered cars.

Billions of people feel the affects of increasingly aberrant weather patterns and choose to ignore them.

Billions of people choose to listen to people who fill their heads full of fecal matter.

Billions of people choose to eat food-like substances that are not food.

Billions of people choose to eat beyond what they need to be healthy.

Billions of people choose to acquire far more than they will ever need.

Billions of people choose to make money a priority when everyone knows, deep down inside, money cannot buy true happiness.

You get the idea. Billions of people choose to create unhappiness and destructions in their lives. We choose these things even if we deny we have chosen them, for otherwise we are all just instinctual bits of plasma and are worthy of nothing at all. I realise now that on some level I choose to be with my abusive ex, because I learned a lot about life and modern society from that experience. I would not consciously choose to get into an abusive relationship, but much of the time we make decisions on sub-conscious levels.

I say perhaps it is time we stop choosing to destroy our only planet. Perhaps it is time for humanity to bring those sub-conscious decisions to light and learn what it is we need to learn from our destructive attitudes. Perhaps it is time to evolve to the next stage, for the current stage of human evolution is not sustainable and will result in our extinction.

The 4th of What?

2009-07-06T03:13:00.002-10:00

I went with my girlfriend to visit some friends on Independence Day, and I noticed some very disturbing - but not surprising - things.

On television, there was, of course, a lot of fuss being made about "the 4th of July". Not "Independence Day". "The 4th of July." When the POTUS came on, all he did was regurgitate some boring, trite shite - and wished Sesame Street a happy birthday.

Sesame Street? Fucking Sesame Street? Although characters from Sesame Street were part of the festivities on the national mall, what the hell does Sesame Street have to do with Independence Day, and thus with the president's all-too-brief spiel? Why didn't the president talk about what the day stood for and what the founding fathers meant the US to be? Why didn't he talk about freedom?

Another thing that bothered me was that the television cameras showed a few black kids in the crowd, but I didn't notice any black adults shown by the camera. It was all whitey-tighty up in here (note: I am "white" - a word which means nothing to me as applied to me, hence the quotes). The only black folks I saw were Aretha and Barry My-Face-Doesn't-Move-Anymore Manilow's backup singers.

Further, all the musical performers except Aretha were not only white, but the most lame-ass "popular" singers in white America. Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond and re-enacters of white-bards-of-America-past. Lame. Lame, lame, lame! No rock'n'roll, and nobody singing about freedom or independence. The white crowd was shown by the cameras to be sucking it all up, getting all excited about Can't-Move-His-Face Manilow and Can't-Clap Diamond. I guess afterwards they all went home and got excited about mayonaise.

I don't think most Americans know what their country is really all about. They've been brainwashed by the Puritan Right and their mass-media hypnotism. This country was founded with the intention of forming a government with the sole purpose of protecting the rights of individuals. Almost since day one, the government of this country has been increasingly anything but protective of individuals (except those who have power and money).

Let's not forget the sickening repetition of "My Country 'Tis of Thee", which is massive, barf-inducing hypocrisy. Let freedom ring? For fucking who? It wasn't for the Africans whitey kidnapped and forced into slavery. It wasn't for the people who were already fucking living here. It certainly isn't for the non-white immigrants who are here - legally or not - today. It most definitely isn't for people with disabilities, who get left out of everything and are forced to pay taxes for the things they get left out of. That leaves, drumroll, please, RICH WHITEY! For rich whitey, let freedom ring!

I wasn't impressed with the fireworks display either. Sure, they're pretty, but that's all most people think about. Both the national anthem and the fireworks represent the battle of Fort McHenry, which Francis Scott Key observed and thus inspired, wrote what became the national anthem of the US. So right there, the date for the display of fireworks should be in mid-September, or at least on both July 4 and in mid-September, so that Americans remember exactly what the hell all this hoopla is about. And while the fireworks are pretty, they represent a battle in which people fought and died, so the grave counterpart of the pyrotechnics display should not be overlooked.

My fellow Americans, you have forgotten your country and don't even know what your country is all about. Some of you sit on your asses all day. Some of you preach hoighty-toighty values. Some of you insist on stuffing everyone around you into safe little boxes so you can sleep at night.

All of this is un-American. Dude, where's your country?

2009-06-30T06:10:00.000-10:00

Testing Gnome-Blogger

I found Gnome-Blogger while looking for blogging clients. Remember, this is only a test.

Beep.

A Word About Insurance

2009-06-24T15:24:00.001-10:00

I want to chime in on the scams known as insurance. I know that if you end up with a medical emergency, it could cost thousands of dollars. But let’s say you have to pay, from your pay check, $250 per month. After one year, you’ve paid $3000, plus any amount in co-payments, depending on your plan and how often you use your plan. Let’s say nothing serious happens over 5 years. That’s at least $15,000 you’ve just given away. Let’s say the “something serious” costs $10,000. You’ve still given away $5,000. Let’s say you’re real good about your eating and exercise and you’re always quite healthy. Over 20 years, assuming you pay about the same for health insurance every month, you’ve given away $60,000, and if you keep your head about diet, exercise, no substance abuse, good driver, pays attention in general, and even if you only have that one $10,000 emergency, you’ve simply given away $50,000.

The insurance scammers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Money doesn’t mean anything to me, but I would like that $50,000 because I could help out my mom and girlfriend with the homes they own and other useful things.

Plus, no other animal on Earth gives a damn about insurance. What happens to all living, earth-bound creatures is, regardless of species, we age and die. NOTHING prevents this. People with insurance have died horrible deaths early on, and those without have lived long, healthy lives. You just. Do not. Know.

So I would advise anyone to be in charge of their own lives and do their own thing and not sweat the insurance too much. If anything, have a little compassion for those who have the “insurance” neurosis that greedy corporate fascists infect many of us with.

No Police, No Jails = Lower Crime?

2009-06-18T03:28:00.002-10:00

What if we did away with police and prisons?

Before you get all worked up about it, let's think it over.

Throughout the history of western civilization, crime has risen. Society keeps putting an increasing number of people in jail for increasingly frivolous reasons, and crime continues to rise. Police stop, search and question people who have nothing to do with any wrongdoing.

So what is the point of all this? Fascist control? Boredom? Just plain idiocy?

Now what if we did away with all this? I know a lot of people would immediately dirty their trousers in fear of "chaos" and "anarchy". Oh, come on. When you think about it, you know that people who are good will remain good no matter what the law says. In fact, these people are usually the most repressed by "the law" because they want to "be good" and become frustrated when their freedoms are increasingly removed by laws. People who want to be "bad" will be so regardless of what the law says. They always have and they always will. In fact, having laws to break can be said to make their criminal activity a lot easier, since laws usually make it illegal for the "common folk" to take matters into their own hands when an individual has clearly hurt a community. Voila - instant loopholes for escape!

Let's create a couple of examples: mild and extreme.

Mild Example

Fred steals from Yongshin's carrot crops and is caught in the act. Since there are no police and no prisons, either the community meets to decide what to do about Fred, or Yongshin is allowed to handle it how she sees fit. If this is a community decision, the community can decide a number of things, from letting Fred off with a warning, to banishing him from the community, especially if he is a repeat offender. If Yongshin must decide what to do, she can likewise do a number of things, from talking to Fred to find out why he's stealing (maybe he's a nice guy desperate for food and the community can step in and arrange things so that Fred doesn't have to steal) to keeping watch and getting into a fight with Fred, providing Fred with a deterrent from stealing. Since there are no laws and police, Yongshin would most likely keep it within reason - after all, killing Fred for stealing is not a balanced act and Yongshin would face consequences from her community.

Extreme Example

Let's say Austin gets real mad, maybe drunk, and kills someone. If he has never done this before, and the community believes he will never do it again, and he's truly very sorry and wants to make up for it, then the community could allow him to make up for it, perhaps by working for the family of the person he killed for a number of years, or doing community service. If he's unrepentant, the community could banish him, or if that was attempted and Austin keeps coming back for more, it would be reasonable for the community members to keep watch and kill Austin when they can.

In the case of a one or just a few individuals living out in the middle of nowhere, they would be justified in defending themselves appropriately. Someone trying to kill them? Of course they should shoot or stab back. You would, too. Some people wouldn't, but that's a personal choice. There is no ethical dilemma in defending yourself.

In any case, there are no police milling around, causing confusion and harassing people. Fred and Austin were going to do what they were going to do whether there are police around or not. Police have never deterred crime. For some people, under some circumstances, they have come in handy, but they still have historically never deterred criminals from their actions. Since there are no prisons, nobody has to house and feed a bunch of people who wronged the community. You wrong the community, you're not part of the community. You try to mess with them and you get messed with.

Just like the rest of the natural world. What makes Hobo Snobiens so special here?

Evil Uncle Sam, vol. 1

2009-05-27T04:47:00.002-10:00

My girlfriend asked me yesterday if she could take some unused Metro cards we have and give them to a co-worker who is struggling and cannot afford heart medication. We were talking about this woman and she reminded me this is the same woman she'd told me about previously whose son is on social security disability and the IRS is garnishing that disability income.

I learned more about this woman and her son during this conversation. Son had an accident at some point and his brain was damaged. It's now not a question of whether he has skills or motivation to find a job. He just cannot work because it's too dangerous for him with his condition. I'm sure he didn't go looking for an accident and brain damage to live off disability, so it's not his fault.

And yet, since he owes the IRS, they are garnishing his welfare money.

I don't care how to acquired that debt. When your brain is damaged to the point where you cannot hold a day job because it's too dangerous for you, you are effectively a different person and the all debtors should forgive your debts. Especially the "government". As I've said before, what the hell kind of "government" gives out welfare on one hand and takes candy away from those same babies with the other? If this were a person, this would be clearly recognized as a serious mental illness and such a person might even be involuntarily committed when caught publicly doing such commonly-agreed-upon morally repulsive acts.

I don't want to see my friends get in trouble with the primitives-with-guns, of course, but when I hear about these things, I openly advocate open rebellion. It appears quite clear to me that we live within a system that is just begging to get its ass kicked.

So back to mom. She's an older woman who is a temp, with a heart condition. She can't afford medication that could keep her alive and was recently saying her chest felt funny. Her son has brain damage and cannot work, and has his disability being reduced for what I perceive to be pretty stupid reasons, considering the life-or-death issues at stake for this family.

So after we went out to eat last night, my girlfriend didn't have as much cash left over as she wanted to give to her co-worker to help out. There wasn't any question about this - I gave my girlfriend some cash to give to this woman.

These things make me want to go to an IRS office and start punching people.

Dear Uncle Sam: YOU SUCK!

Or Current Resident

2009-05-20T06:57:00.001-10:00

Today I got a flyer from Michael's addressed to (whatsmyname) Or Current Resident.

I decided that today, I would take offense. What this really says is "This is who we think lives at this address, and we'd like you to buy our stuff. But if not- we don't care! We just do not care who you are as long as you buy outr stuff!"

Call me old-fashioned, but if a business does not care who I am, then I do not care to buy their stuff. If I'm just another number, just another sthatthisthic, then I'm not motivated to do b'ness with y'all.

Now slap mah fro!

Society of Mediocrity, vol. 1

2009-05-15T11:41:00.002-10:00

I usually just let my "Insane Sites" links list speak for itself, but I was so happy to run into another brain on this planet that I wanted to bring special attention to this blogger and his post:

The Society of Mediocrity And Your Role As a Blogger

The Wrong Way To Do Business, vol. 1

2009-05-12T02:27:00.002-10:00

Here's a message I sent to my "auto insurance" company today:

----------------------------------------

Hey there,

While making a payment today, I noticed the following statement:

"We can process your card payment as a "PIN-less debit" transaction which has a lower processing cost associated with it. We try to reduce our transaction costs in order to minimize administrative expenses which we would otherwise pass on to our customers. Please choose your preference below."

I'm a bit old-fashioned, and I think this is not a good way to do business. "Administrative costs" should be born by the company and are paid for from the profits of doing good business. I can't tell you how to run your business, but as a customer, I think it's important for businesses to know how their customers feel. Thanks for listening!

-------------------------------------------

Seriously. I know I would feel like a rat's ass for telling my customers that I would slam them with the "administrative costs" of running my business. I would expect customers to start sinking the leaving ship.

Bite My Bag, USA

2009-05-08T10:21:00.000-10:00

I am on disability income. Obama signed a $250 hand-out under some economic recovery thing. My finances were fucked up by my ex-wife, including my student loans, and now the Dept. of Ed. has taken my $250, which I was going to use to help family.

FUCK YOU, ED, FUCK YOU, OBAMA, AND FUCK THE USA! I'm so fucking sick of you fucking assholes! BITE MY FUCKING BAG!

Budhha Provide

2009-05-08T04:34:00.002-10:00

I was just thinking about "money" and "savings".

It's crap.

Looking back on my own life, what I needed was always provided. No, that doesn't mean I'm a spoiled rich kid. In fact, I'm a "had-to-work-for-it" poor kid. And yet the Universe always provided what was needed. When I was married to an abusive spouse, jobs came and went as necessary, without too much exhaustion on my part (which was good because I was exhausted from being abused). When it was time to leave that marriage by any means necessary, I did have a place to sleep and a place to shower, and food (and a job). Eventually, I got my apartment back. When I lost my job, I had savings and disability. When I lost my disability, I had a place to move into (which was also with a wonderful partner). When I felt it was time to get something I thought I needed, I was able to get it even though I don't have a job. When the time was right, I got my disability back (and I'm now able to use some of it to help people important to me). When I was ready, I started finding Teachers in certain areas of my life - again, without needing a whole lot of money.

No other species on this planet "saves for the future". Everyone else other than humans lives in the here and now - and plenty of them die of old age. Our species over-thinks and over-worries. If we could all get in touch with our planet, we will find that everything we need is always here in the present.

So, I'm not going to "save money" for the "future". At best, I will put aside some "money" for things I want (and I now feel like I'm ripping people off. They're giving me things I can use in exchange for pieces of paper. Does that sound like a good deal for them? It doesn't to me, either. But that's their lesson to learn).

I'm fine right here, right now. Tomorrow will take care of itself as it becomes the here and now.

Getting Sick

2009-05-02T12:56:00.002-10:00

This reminds me of something in my own life.

We eat well. By well, I mean real food. We don't eat processed crap.

One time, we were low on "funds" and visited a food bank.

Bad move.

We both got sick. Not vomitting sick, but we felt terrible. Low energy, and just generally crappy. It went away as soon as we were able to get back to real food.

The moral of this story: If I need to tell you the moral, please drop off your brain at the brain recycling plant so someone else can use it.

Giving It Away

2009-05-01T02:35:00.003-10:00

Since I've been reading "Living Without Money" (link on right), I've been reminding myself of what I truly believe on a fundamental level. I have always instinctively known that material possessions are fundamentally useless unless you can give them away. When I was a kid, I lent my friends my favourite music tapes without hesitation. When my ex-girlfriend's car had to go into a shop for repair, I lent her one of mine - the "cooler" one - without hesitation. I could have easily lent her my other car, which was a good car in excellent condition, but that's not me. She even told me as much. When my current (and forever!) girlfriend decided to donate her old car to charity because she didn't want to pay for constant repairs any more, I insisted she take my car (at this point I had only the one, "cooler" car) to work every day, even though she would have been perfectly happy to take the bus (I work at home and wasn't using the car. It would have been stupid to let it sit there 5 days a week, save for the occasional trip). When my mother fell on hard times, I started giving her some of my disability check - and that is my only "income". I decided last night to up the amount I'm giving her every month.

I've also decided to stop "saving" into two different "accounts" (long-term and whatever-savings, which is whatever is left over from the month) and just start "saving" whatever is left over. Like all beings on this planet, and like the author of "Living Without Money" said, we are all going to get old and die, and no amount of "money" can prevent or delay that. It would be better if I (and you) get in touch with the earth and realise what an abundance grows right at your feet. If you never touched another dollar again, you would never want for food if you only knew the treasure of a world you live on. Which reminds me of another habit I plan to start. On each grocery shopping trip, we get a few items to put away into an emergency store for hard times. I'm going to start getting one or two organic items to donate to food banks and homeless kitchens on each grocery trip. I used a food bank once and got sick because my body isn't used to society's crap food any more. I think it's only fair that other people busy getting screwed by society should have good food.

Anyway, my point is that the older I get and the more I learn about all things, the less I care about material possessions and the more freely I give them away. They are no good to you if you hoard them. Might as well pass them along to those who could actually use them.

Women - Free Yourselves

2009-04-30T08:30:00.002-10:00

I'm a member of the ERA NOW group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=45860562011). This just occured to me:

"Money" and "politics" are control devices, and one of the largest, if not the largest, demographic these two schemes seek to control are women. They seek to control women because the wielders of these schemes are men still in the cavemen-dragging-their-women-by-the-hair stage of psychological evolution.

So it seems to me that all women in "modern" or "western" societies should be against "money" and "politics". Even at best, if women "gain" or "are granted" rights in these systems, the best scenario I can envision is the continuation of these control schemes under different guises and perhaps run by different people - including women.

Ladies, do you really want change? Do you truly want to be free of oppression? Then join the rebellion against "money" and "politcs". Without these things, even if you personally stop engaging in these trap systems on your own, you will find the truth - that you are free to live your own life on your own terms - period. As long as you buy into these systems, you will remain trapped.

The Ultimate Homeless Shelter

2009-04-29T09:14:00.001-10:00

If I ran a homeless shelter, it would be a training facility for teaching people to live off and in harmony with the earth. I believe this is the ultimate "defense" against "homelessness", since, armed with this knowledge, one would never need to worry about what to do without a "house". Eventually, I believe this would catch on and being "homeless" would cease to be a bad thing, because the earth itself would be home. Which it is.

Trimming the Hedge

2009-04-28T05:39:00.003-10:00

I live in a community in which there is a "homeowners association" (HOA) and foundation managing the affairs of the overall area. Among other things, they take responsibility for the maintenance of trees, hedges and grass areas in the community.

I have no problem with this in theory, but in practice, it's all based on "money" and thus it is all done in a way that I disagree with. For example, today - just now, actually - maintenance came and basically chopped all bushes in half, removing all leaves. So the plant life looks weird. A bush growing above one corner of the fence around my yard isn't visible from the yard any more and now the energy and appearance is all off-kilter for me.

I believe the reason they did all this in this manner is because of "money". They need to "save money" and thus decided to just cut all shrubs in half rather than carefully prune them.

I think this is bogus. I'm considering asking the HOA and foundation to be responsible for the bush outside my fence. I have to consider that they may get weird about it, so I would have to be very specific - I'm just going to trim the thing so that it doesn't stick out into the sidewalk and looks nice on top, and it's not going to be perfectly square. They would probably say no, anyway, and I have a lot on my plate. But seeing them do this makes me think about these things. About how "western civilization" treats humanity's natural environment.

Which, basically, is with anything but the respect it deserves.

Natural Medicine, vol. 1

2009-04-27T06:03:00.002-10:00

Your back yard probably has a lot of stuff growing in it that can help you with all kinds of ailments. For free. Without the need for toxic chemicals.

I took a walk with my better half and a mutual friend this past weekend. Our friend is a gentleman I consider wise in the ways of nature, although he is still himself learning. He offers "nature walks" during which he points out various plants and their nutritional and medical benefits, as well as which plants are poisonous.

On this last walk, I learned about, among other things, English plantain and jewel weed. English plantain can help with blood poisoning, and according to some of my own research, with poison ivy rash. My friend recommended jewel weed for poison ivy rash over English plantain. I've also read that the entire dandelion plant, ground into a poultice, is good for poison ivy rash.

I mention poison ivy rash because I have such a rash at the moment. I have a bottle of something called "Solarcaine", which is lidocaine in an aloe gel. Lidocaine is not necessarily all that good for the human body. Just this morning, I realised that one of the "weeds" sprouting willy-nilly in my yard is - drum roll, please - English plantain. Of course, dandelions are in abundance. I made a poultice of English plantain and am wearing it as I type. No itching on the rash. I'll be trying dandelion later.

So, you see, it's important to be in touch with nature. Why would you want to take medication for a toe-nail fungal infection with side effect warnings like stroke, heart attack, clots, nausea, dizziness, fever, etc., when there's probably a plant in your yard that will clear it right up with no side effects?

Of course, The Establishment wants you to buy their chemicals, because their chemicals won't help and if you're brain-washed into thinking they are the only provider of any real help, they'll keep making a killing while they're killing you.

Word of advice: get a teacher. Don't go picking plants and trying them out. There are some plants that will kill you, and many that will make you ill. You have to know what you're doing. But if you know what to do, you will be much better off than using The Establishment's dangerous crap.

POSTED: NO SOLICITATIONS

2009-04-22T04:13:00.002-10:00

I hate it when people walk by and hang ad crap on my door knob. It ALL goes in the trash. Why would I accept trash from strangers? You wouldn't either. If I want something, I will come looking for it. Trying to shove it up my ass is only going to make me NOT give you my business.

I just posted a sign on my door:

NO SOLICITATIONS
(that means no ads or flyers except from “officials”)
Your ad will be DROPPED ON THE GROUND and I will consider
you to have littered on my property. I don't hang my crap on your
door. Please return the favour.

I'm sure many of you don't agree with this approach, but seriously. Would you be cool with taking trash from strangers and disposing of it for them? Even if you're a super-nice person, at some point, you'd tell them to get bent. I love the earth and I want to take care of it, but I cannot carry everyone else's problems on my back. Hanging shit on my door knob is littering. So advertisers, get bent!

An Extremist By Any Other Name

2009-04-20T05:17:00.000-10:00

Whether you're an extremist liberal or an extremist neo-con, the key word is "extremist" and ultimately all extremists are pretty much the same - they leave devastation in their wake in the name of their ideologies.

I'm not cool with that.

A Better Way

2009-04-20T02:44:00.003-10:00

I feel like every book I've read lately has a purpose in my life, and indeed I've come away from the last several books having learned something. Even the fiction and fantasy books.

Take the one I'm reading now: Running With The Demon by Terry Brooks. Last night I read this passage:

"The destruction of the world depends on the willingness of the people in it to harm each other in any way necessary to achieve their own ends and to further their own causes. And we got that down pat, don't we? We know how to hurt each other and think up whatever excuses we need to justify it. We're victims and executioners both."

I had to put the book down to think about this. How true this is. How much this describes me. I want everyone to stop messing around with each other and get on with their own lives, but sometimes the way I rant about it brings me down to the level of those who are messing around with others. The best way I can affect change, I think, would be to leave everyone else alone and mind my own life. If I can reach out to someone who is receptive, I should do so. If a crazy person gets on my case, just walk away. I cannot change anyone but myself. Perhaps if I just live on my own terms, others might glance over and decide to do the same. Perhaps by example, I can show people that beating everyone else down to feel good only makes everyone feel bad. Perhaps people will look up and decide to quit those awful day jobs and pursue their dreams of music, art, healing, and exploration.

People who hurt others and desire power should be pitied for having a mental illness. They may hurt those around them, even in a wide radius, but it is an unhealthy state of mind, not "evil". Remember that next time you feel that someone is "screwing with you". If you know who you are and what you want, then the only person they're hurting is themselves. Send them good thoughts and continue on with your life. If it's getting to you, perhaps there are things you need to work on inside yourself. I know this is true for me, and I'm thankful for that reminder. Because yelling at other people will not help me solve my own problems.

What kind of society

2009-03-23T05:19:00.006-10:00

What kind of society leaves an older working woman with a good heart and a desire to take care of people in general scrabbling to get by and wondering if she's going to lose her home?

What kind of society helps a man who cannot hear the way most people can (what you might call "deaf" or "hearing impaired") when he has a job and doesn't truly need their help, but will not help him when he is not "making money" and is thus more in need of help?

What kind of society makes it "illegal" to build a fire to cook food - the only way until the 20th century of the Christian calendar mankind has ever cooked his food? (I want to propose the theory that home fires have never been statistically greater than in the 20th century of the Christian calendar because humanity has lost touch with the basic elements of the earth and thus no longer understands fire.)

What kind of society makes it "illegal" to hang one's clothing outside to dry - the only way clothing could be dried since mankind first started washing his clothing until the 20th century of the Christian calendar?

What kind of society tries to push their obsession with a single communication device - the telephone - upon deaf people when that society has many technological communication options other than the phone?

What kind of society processes their food with toxic chemicals? What kind of society eats toxic chemicals?

What kind of society pushes drugs on the population - drugs which do not do anything except make people drowsy, dull and often sicker - while on the other hand banning the use of all drugs not "sold in stores" or "prescribed by a doctor"? What the hell kind of society creates drugs for foot fungus - fucking FOOT FUNGUS! - with side effects of stroke or heart attack? What the fucking fuck, dude?

What kind of society engages in the ultimate pyramid scheme in which only a small handful of people at the top are given all power over all human affairs? (This is "money" in case you didn't get it.) Why do you not want power over your own life?

What kind of society allows its taxation system to run amuck and terrorize the population when the society's founders created this society because they were being terrorized by a taxation system run amuck?

What kind of society practices religious oppression when the first people to create the society left another society to escape religious oppression?

What kind of society cleans up grass clippings and fallen leaves - which serve a better purpose left where they fall - while leaving garbage strewn in the streets?

What kind of society makes kitchen knives out of plastic? No, I'm serious. I saw a plastic "lettuce knife" in the Giant near my home yesterday. What the hell? Get a real knife, dumbass!

What kind of society lets a few controlling Neanderthals decide that all cars will be made to run on oil when the very first cars were electric - and worked well? No, electric cars are not "the wave of the future". They are the way it should have been in the first place.

What kind of society creates a super-easy way to protect the privacy of electronic communications - easy to the point where programs will automatically handle this - but does not use it? Start encrypting your email people. Would you send a letter without putting it in an envelope? That's what you're doing every time you send an unecrypted email.

What kind of society says "no child left behind" but leaves every child behind unless the kid's parents are loaded?

What kind of society accepts, in writing, that a person who is "unemployed" and "disabled" cannot pay back taxes in full or with a payment agreement, while simultaneously informing that person that the amount of taxes for previous years was just adjusted to a higher amount - for ANY reason?

Carpet Pet Peeve

2009-03-19T09:57:00.004-10:00

It appears to me that carpet has only one purpose: the support of the circulating medium (what is known as "money" to people who think it means anything).

Oh, I don't mean nice rugs that you can pick up and move about and use for various purposes. I mean the wall-to-wall crap found everywhere in "modern" society.

It gets dirty easily
The dirt is quickly noticeable
It must be cleaned often
It can only be effectively cleaned with electro-mechanical devices, which cost money to run and are a bother to operate
Often, chemicals are required to clean it, which supports the empire's money/chemical scheme that destroys our home world
Sometimes even fancier electro-mechanical devices that use chemicals are needed to get the carpet truly clean
It has no advantage over a rug that can be picked up, shaken, cleaned naturally, and moved about to suit current flooring needs
It is a BIG, GIANT, PAIN IN THE ASS

Kill your carpet today. Get a hard floor. Some nice wood, stone, or other hard surface that can be easily cleaned with water and a little elbow grease. If you can't manage this because you're lazy, tough shit. If you have physical or medical issues, help is easy to get. If you can't get help, somebody still needs to clean the floor, and it will be easier for you to sweep it real quick than shove a bulky vacuum around.

Stevia and the FDA Wonder

2009-03-19T03:20:00.003-10:00

Wave to Stevie.

Stevia, that is. What the holy hell is UP with the Fools and Drugged Administration? I've come to the conclusions that the FDA is an accurate indicator of what is and what is not safe or good. Here's how it works: if the FDA says it's ok, it's probably not. If the FDA is all fascist about it, it's probably very good for you. The only reason the FDA exists today is to control. The FDA only serves the interests of major "money makers" in this country. If it's good for the "money makers", it's "approved". If it's not, it isn't. Health is not a consideration to these bozos. You don't need to listen to their "arguments". Of course they will say they're "looking out for the people". Never mind that. Just observe what is actually going on around you. Open your eyes. Remove the Gitmo head-sack the system has fooled you into thinking is a good thing.

In fact, if you read http://www.stevia.net/safety.htm, it is clear that the FDA is anything but sane. Stevia is not only safe - it's good for you.

According to stevia.net - and just about anywhere you look up stevia - this stuff cannot be sold in the Untied Tastes (anagram of United States) as a sweetener, or even called "sweet", or it could be seized by the Gestapo (I wonder what would happen if I marched into Trader Joe's, picked up a bottle of stevia, and announced loudly that this is some damn sweet stuff, man). I don't know how stupid these people are, or how stupid they think real humans are, but let's point out some obvious stuff:

Stevia is a sweetener. It is used for sweetening foods and drinks. If it did not have sweetness, next to nobody would buy it. You'd be left with those who use it for extremely special, esoteric purposes
The Effdeeyay does not believe this is a harmful drug, or the Gestapo would not only not allow it on the shelves in your stores, they will kill you if you have it, since they have a neurotic, homicidal need to be in control of all mind-altering drugs.
Japan, a health-conscious country, is big on stevia and uses it instead of sugar. I forgot where I read this, but a web site somewhere mentioned that Japan buys 40% of the "world market" for stevia. The Japanese are no idiots. They have a long history of incorporating nature and balance into their traditional culture. I'll take their research over the Unboozled Scrapes any day.

I seriously cannot believe the utter idiocy of people in this country. People, please take your brains out of the garbage and do your best to stuff them back into your heads. You've been eating too much processed sugar that your good sense has rotted away. Try some stevia for a change.

Everything Is Free

2009-03-13T04:00:00.002-10:00

That saying "nothing is free"?

Total crap.

Everything is free. It is humanity that limits itself, usually in the form of the weaker and more fearful manipulating others in harmful ways. Man loves to hold another man back. I say move on from those fear-based, primitive ways of thinking.

If you want it, go get it.

You may have to "get around", "get creative" and put some work into it, but it is there and free for you to go for. Ain't nobody stopping you but you.

New Vegans Are Sick!

2009-03-13T03:09:00.004-10:00

My girlfriend was recently telling me that she feels ready to go to a mostly vegan diet (I'm pretty much a vegan myself, but I bend my own rules now and then when away from home). She was telling me that someone, this other person herself a vegan, cautioned her to be careful when making the switch, as one could get sick.

I've heard this before, and I think it's nonsense. I fail to see how switching to a diet consisting of a broad variety of leafy green vegetables, a plethora of types of fruit, nuts, and other vegetable items, the sum of which is rich in calcium, protein and vitamins, can make one sick. I can only conclude that people who say this are vegan themselves and ate vegan-based crap, thus making themselves sick, are vegan and are still mentally trapped in the system and are repeating the tripe of a society hostile to anyone who is different, or are not vegan/vegetarian and are hostile to the idea of people being different.

This "cautionary advice" defies good sense. Eating lots of unprocessed vegetables, fruits and nuts doesn't make you sick. If you have a medical condition and do not take that condition into consideration, then that's just you being stupid - not the diet itself. That medical condition either exists regardless of your diet or exists because of your diet - meaning you eat too much crap and need more fruits, nuts and veg.

Put it this way. Does "be careful when eating healthy - you might get sick" sound like a sane and rational statement to you?

Stupid Conversations Vol. 1

2009-03-12T05:36:00.006-10:00

I'm going to start posting conversations I have through a relay or other service with people who aren't too bright. I'm just going to post them, figuring that if you happen to be a little brighter than most people, you'll get why it's stupid, otherwise it'd be a waste of time to explain.

Today, with My Eye Dr.:

(10:24:46) (me): (number to call)
(10:24:46) SIPRelay: Welcome to SIPRelay. A Communications Assistant will be with you shortly.
(10:24:47) SIPRelay: This call is not encrypted.
(10:24:47) SIPRelay: SIPRelay does not accept international calls.
(10:24:50) SIPRelay: Call start time 9:27:41 AM Mountain Daylight Time calling: +1 (number) welcome to SIPRelay.
(10:24:50) SIPRelay: I am CA7064(F). Please hold while I connect your call...
(10:24:52) SIPRelay: [Dialing...]
(10:24:56) SIPRelay: [Ringing...1...]
(10:25:03) SIPRelay: (2...)
(10:25:06) SIPRelay: [Male voice]
(10:25:07) SIPRelay: [Explaining Relay...]
(10:25:22) (me): Hello, this is (me). Just calling to find out if my lenses have arrived yet
(10:25:35) SIPRelay: Hold on just a second, okay?
(10:25:35) SIPRelay: [The call has been placed on hold.]
(10:25:36) SIPRelay: (Music playing...)
(10:25:55) SIPRelay: [Female voice]
(10:25:55) SIPRelay: [Explaining Relay...]
(10:26:04) SIPRelay: Thank you for holding, this is Connie, can I help you?
(10:26:07) SIPRelay: (Sounds nice.)
(10:26:28) (me): Hello, this is (me). Just calling to find out if my lenses have arrived yet
(10:26:36) SIPRelay: Hold on one second.
(10:26:37) SIPRelay: [The call has been placed on hold.]
(10:28:11) SIPRelay: [Female voice]
(10:28:25) SIPRelay: Thank you for holding, are you a new patient or a current patient?
(10:28:42) (me): Current
(10:28:43) SIPRelay: (Sounds nice.)
(10:28:54) SIPRelay: Did you want to make an appointment?
(10:29:15) (me): Uh, I ordered new lenses for some frames. I'm calling to find out if those lenses have arrived. My name is (me)
(10:29:50) SIPRelay: Okay, hold on one minute.
(10:29:55) SIPRelay: [The call has been placed on hold.]
(10:29:57) SIPRelay: (Music playing...)
(10:30:36) SIPRelay: [Female voice]
(10:30:36) SIPRelay: [Explaining Relay...]
(10:30:58) SIPRelay: Thank you for holding, this is Jamie, how can I help you?
(10:30:59) SIPRelay: (Sounds nice.)
(10:31:15) (me): Hello, this is (me). (spelled out my last name). I'm calling to find out if my lenses have arrived yet
(10:31:37) SIPRelay: Were those contact lenses or glasses?
(10:31:41) (me): Glasses
(10:31:54) SIPRelay: Okay.
(10:32:07) SIPRelay: I have a full set of glasses here that are ready for you.
(10:32:20) SIPRelay: They're in a brown Nike frame.
(10:32:28) (me): Awesome, thank you. I'll be by to pick them up this afternoon
(10:32:37) SIPRelay: Okay, that's great.
(10:32:45) (me): Alright, bye now
(10:32:45) SIPRelay: We look forward to seeing you Mr. (my last name).
(10:32:48) SIPRelay: [Hearing user hung up.]
(10:32:49) SIPRelay: [Your call has been disconnected.]
(10:32:50) SIPRelay: [Thank you for choosing SIPRelay. Would you like to place another call?]
(10:32:54) (me): No, thank you
(10:32:56) SIPRelay: [Your session has been completed.]
(10:32:59) SIPRelay: Thank you for using SIPRelay. To place another call please enter the 10-digit phone number you would like to call. SIPRelay Mobile for Blackberry® is another way Sorenson Communications is Connecting You. Visit siprelay.com to learn more.

Non-Religious Calendar Needed

2009-03-12T05:22:00.002-10:00

It occured to me this morning that the world could benefit from a non-religious calendar. I have no problem with whatever you want to believe, but what right do you have to impose your beliefs on others against their will? Having an almost world-wide calendar based on one religion's gesalt event is a form of imperialism. I would like to see this end.

I found a link to an org called ICACCI. It's a start.

The Bad Business List (BaBuL)

2009-03-11T04:33:00.008-10:00

I've decide to start a list of "bad businesses". I'll call it the "Bad Business List", or BaBuL (and you can pronounce that like "babel"). It seems to me that an increasing number of businesses are getting very careless these days, and perhaps by pointing them out and spreading the word, there is a small chance they'll be embarrased enough to change their ways. Most likely, as my experience seems to indicate, they won't give a shit.

But nevertheless, here is the list. I will modify it occasionally, as I run into more bad businesses or an existing bad business isn't so bad any more.

Dell

Dell bans users and blocks posts on their user community if you criticise Dell. Call me old-fashioned, but if you are a business you WILL get criticism. I believe that the only correct response for a mature, enlightened and customer-focused business is to listen to the customer and say you will do what you can to fix it. The end, that's all and good-bye. To censor customers is the act of a bully, and bullies are immature cowards. Their hardware is good for average home-use, though if you want to be able to tweak and customize, build your own - always.

Department of Education

Mafia thugs. After I defaulted on my student loans because of the abuse I recieved at the hands of my ex-spouse, they garnished my social security disability income. Keeping in mind what SSDI really is - welfare - it is correct to say that these gang-bangers garnished a disabled person's welfare. I should not have to explain to you how otr why this is wrong. And yes, I wrote to these mobsters many times explaining why I was not responsible for this mess. They just don't give a shit.

Department of Rehabilitation Services (DORS, Maryland)

Actually, this one isn't really "bad", just stupid. And, before I go further, I wish to point out that the lady there with whom I met is very nice and wants to help. So this is about this organization's policies.

I wanted help from them getting new hearing aids. Hearing aids costs tens of millions of thousands of dollars. Well, maybe in the area of 2 or 3 thousand - each. I need two, so that's 5 or 6 thousand. People who need hearing aids typically do not have boatloads of money to yank out of their butts, and depend on Medicare or assistance from the state.

So, last time I got hearing aids, I got them through assistance from DORS. So I applied again, as hearing aids wear out over time. That's when I learned that DORS helped me last time because I was working, "working" meaning to them "making money". I currently do not "make money" because I don't have a "day job" and I'm a musician. All artists and friends of artists know that artists typically spend long periods of time making no money even while they work. So now I cannot get assistance from DORS even though I work according to the nature of my profession.

Actually, now that I think about it, I may contact the nice lady I met with and ask about appealing higher up in their organization. Not making money much of the time is the way it is for artists, and I should not be penalized for my career choice. I'm still deaf. I still need hearing aids. That should not be tied to whether or not I'm "making money", but whether or not I'm deaf, need hearing aids and cannot afford them.

Internal Revenue Service

The IRS recently surprised me in a good way, actually, by acknowledging that I am not able to pay my debt to them at this time (I'm unemployed and on disability income - permanently). However, I have to put them on this list because in that same letter they say they may still take collection enforcement action. I don't like people who say "fine, you're out of work and I'll let you off - for now - but I'm-a-comin' back for yo' ass".

iPrintFromHome

They are grossly incompetent. My girlfriend ordered multiple prints from them, and each print was done incorrectly multiple times. I'm from a family of pro photographers. They've printed landscape on portrait (so two sides are cut off) and printed the correct orientation, but the top and bottom margins exist while the left and right edges are cut off. Plus, they wrap their prints around the outside of a photo tube and put the tube in a box. Who the hell does this? Prints go inside the tube, dumbass! Before the tube, they mailed smaller prints in an envelope, affixed to a cardboard backing. Needless to say, those prints arrived damaged. The prints wrapped around the outside of tubes arrived damaged as well, because the inner edge of the wrap dented the part of the print wrapped over it. Which is why the print goes inside the tube. Dumbass!

Library of Congress

These people are terrible bullies. These people are also part of the initial reason for this blog, so I will merely summarise here. I worked for them for a year, got a satisfactory review from my supervisor, and was fired by their office of security because I "failed" their "background investigation" because I owe the IRS and Department of Education, and had defaulted on my student loans, because my ex-wife was abusive and caused me enormous financial damage, and I was thus "untrustworthy". This is all faulty reasoning, obviously, because 1. I had already been there a year and been granted access to all kinds of systems, in addition to which I was very well-liked by everyone and 2. You simply do not blame people for damage caused by their abusive ex-spouses. It is clear to me and all who know me that this bully organization wanted to get rid of me for less-than-ethical reasons. I will probably never find out why, but the important thing here is that they have demonstrated that they are no better than mafia thugs.

OBA Bank

I was with this bank for over 15 years. Then my check card was compromised (this happened to a lot of banks recently). When this happened, I found out they couldn't tell me what went wrong, they had an out-of-date phone number for me, they STILL didn't know I'm deaf and couldn't call me anyway, they had an out-of-date address, to which they sent forms with my account number written on them, and they emailed me those same forms, with account number, via unencrypted email. I also recently learned that they're about to start charging monthly fees for their basic savings and checking accounts. They've failed banking 101. Good-bye. Dumbass.

Shutterfly

While some free prints we got from them some time ago were very good, the last few prints we did with this incompetent boob were grainy. It wasn't the files we submitted to them, as we could print them at home and elsewhere without graininess. They continued to insist they did nothing wrong and that we sent them "bad" files. We know this is not true. Not only am I a phorographer, I'm a computer geek. I know my shit, thank you. Good-bye, Shutterfly. Shoo fly, shoo.

Social Security Administration

You name it - they've done it wrong. This blog was started because of these boobs, so putting them on this list is just for completeness' sake.

The Absurdity of "Money"

2009-03-09T06:49:00.003-10:00

I'm going to put quotes around "money" and other financial terms from now on.

Because it's absolutely absurd.

Think about it. Let's start with me, a musician. I, the musician, need food. So I find someone to "hire" me to write a song or play at a party. I take that "money" and exchange it for food with my local grocer (who gave "money" to a farmer to obtain the food to re-sell. The farmer takes that "money" and "buys" stuff, starting a whole new circle of "money flow"). Now the grocer needs a tooth pulled. So he gives "money" to a dentist who pulls his tooth for him. The dentist needs a new computer. He exchanges "money" for a computer with his local computer guy. The computer guy needs his home repaired, so he gives "money" to a contractor to fix his home. The contractor wants to celebrate his first year of "profit" so he throws a party and "hires" me to provide the music, giving me "money" in exchange for that service.

So the "money" I initially spent on food ends right back where it started. You can start with any person or organization and watch the "money" go round from there.

This is absurd, people!

I want to see this "money" gone, and have everyone just continue to do their jobs, without the need for a useless circulating medium. If you take all money away, nothing has changed. Farmers still farm. Dentists still... dent? Musicians still write music. Computer people still make and repair computers.

Seriously. Come on. Grow up. Leave the fear-based mechanisms like "money" and "power" alone. Just get on with your life and live it the way you see fit.

Holy Mackerel!

2009-03-06T10:12:00.002-10:00

Apparently, "low mercury fish" is safe to eat.

All I have to say is "Dude, what the fucking fuck?"

Last time I checked, you do NOT want to eat ANY amount of thermometer goo. Not so much as a single, bored molecule of it.

If you think "low mercury fish" is healthy, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY GET YOUR HEAD CHECKED!!!

Mercury is bad, bad, bad to eat. What you want is NO-MERCURY FISH. I know "low" and "no" sound similar, but there is a major honking difference in application, and thus to your well-being.

If you cannot find fish without mercury in it, DO NOT EAT FISH. Just have some more veggies, fruits and nuts.

Holy hell, society can be so fucking stupid.

Bizarre Animal Cruelty, Vol. 2

2009-03-03T12:41:00.004-10:00

Dumbass stuffs kitten in bong.

I despise people who engage in animal cruelty.

But there are other things I don't like about some (or most) people: stupidity, ignorance, and a complete who-the-fuck-cares about their own stupidity and ignorance.

I feel badly for this kitten. But I know - and I've never even smoked pot - that it will most certainly NOT die of exposure to marijuana of any amount. Nobody and nothing has ever died of "pot overdose". I read enough to know it is just not possible.

However, stuffed in a bong? What kind of smoke it is doesn't matter here. The kitten may have brain damage from oxygen deprivation. It could have been the house burning down, or office paper burning. Excessive smoke in a confined space will fuck up your brain. The pot is completely irrelevant to that issue. You could chown down on pot buds all day long and at worst, you will get very fucking hungry. Of course, it is my understanding that past a certain point, you just won't have a desire to consume any more pot either until it wears off.

It's not something you should do before driving. But it still irritates the hell out of me that the Righteous Right get their panties in a bunch over a substance that is far less harmful to a human infant than household aspirin.

Your disagreement with me, if you have one, is irrelevant. This is strictly a scientific fact.

But I hope that fucker goes to jail just for the way he treated that poor kitten.

Bizarre Animal Cruelty, Vol. 1

2009-02-27T06:02:00.004-10:00

Mexicans must hate animals. I know this is a loaded statement that can be accused of "racial profiling". But then why do I hear about animal cruelty in Mexico rather frequently?

Check this out: animal cruelty in Mexico.

I didn't sign this petition, but I encourage you to if doing so is meaningful to you. I decided not to because petitions do not accomplish anything. Think about it. These neighbors hated a man because he is kind (alright, that is a disturbing mass-mental problem right there and reason enough for me to move far away, to the middle of nowhere). They hated him so much that they attacked him and killed the animals he was kind to. The police clearly hate animals so much that they sided with the neighbors and prevented anyone from helping this guy and those animals. The state itself really doesn't give a shit because they did nothing about it.

You can't change someone by writing to them. The state is going to use this petition for toilet paper. People can only change themselves, and they are going to be what they are going to be. Best to assume that they're as unstoppable as asteriods and get the fuck outta the way - or blast them to bits if you can and need to.

But I will tell you this. If you are such a person who would come to my house with murderous intentions for my pets, if I have the means and opportunity, I will not hesitate to kill you - and I will sleep soundly at night. I really do not want to kill or even hurt anyone, but I have no moral qualms doing whatever is necessary to defend the lives of my family - and that extends to the non-human beings I have chosen to give shelter to.

Fucking hell. The human race is so full of garbage I often wish not to be part of it. Let me be a dung beetle, even! At least dung beetles do not want to kill other species just for the hell of it.

The Meaning of Respect, Vol. 1

2009-02-26T11:49:00.004-10:00

There aren't any rules in life about respect. Some human societies make attempts to codify certain forms of respect, but those are meaningless.

Respect comes from within. It means when someone with whom you interact, whether because you have chosen to or because it's part of your job, you listen. You don't just hear the words. You listen and understand, and if you do not, you say so. It means, if necessary, leaving someone alone to live his life as he has chosen. It means being there for a friend or relative if he makes unhappy decisions, without imposing your ego or beliefs on him. And so on.

I have recently had to deal with the issue of respect while attempting to schedule a medical appointment. The healthcare company ("healthcare" and "company" are strange words to put together, but I'll leave that to another post) has an online message system - and they've done it right by encrypting that system. So I used it to request an appointment. The first response I recieved was to call a certain number to obtain a referral (another odd concept to be left for later). I told them that making a call would not be possible, as I am deaf, do not have phone service, and do not have a TTY.

I find it absolutely amazing that given such a clear description of my situation, these people continued to insist that I use such-and-such phone number. They "followed up" by calling my girlfriend, who owns this health plan, at work, asking for me directly. Neither of us gave them her work number as a means to contact me.

I quickly became very blunt and eschewed tact. It boiled down to "get with the program" and "this is how you will do it or I will seek legal advice under the Americans With Disabilities Act". And suddenly, it was magically taken care of and an appointment was made for me and they told me about it through their online message system.

I do not know what is wrong with people. I am not saying this to insult anyone, but if you are told that someone is deaf and does not have a phone, and you tell them to "call this number", you need to grow a brain. You do not listen, and you have no respect.

When I meet someone new, they do not have to "earn" my respect. You are given a certain level of basic respect right off the bat. All you have to do is not mess it up by being an idiot, an asshole, or other disrespectful type of person. If you cannot return this respect I will give you, you will not be treated with respect.

That sounds only fair to me.

How It Happened, Part I

2009-02-24T16:01:00.002-10:00

In the first post of this blog, I said I would, over time, try to write down the tale of how I got where I am today, in terms of being a formerly abused spouse with a gigantic financial mess and unable to get a job.

I thought I would start part one of that tale today.

I met my ex-wife at university in 1998. At the time, I had recently had a messy breakup from a messy relationship (one, however, that did not cause me financial or employment grief). I had found myself a rented room in the home of a local resident and got on well with my landlord. Classes were going well. I felt I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to be doing. I socialized at a level normal for me. I wasn't really looking for any new romantic relationships, but I felt I wouldn't scare anyone off if it happened.

One day, while sitting in the university's office of Disability Support Services (DSS), I happened to be sitting next to a young woman. To be sociable, and to possibly meet another student with a disability, I said hello, and we introduced ourselves. R turned out to be deaf, and did not know sign-language. We chatted for a few minutes, using lip-reading and a small amount of hearing to communicate, then one of us went to see the DSS director, for whom we were both waiting. I think R's mother was also there, and I exchanged hellos with her when R introduced us.

For a while, we simply saw each other around, and then started getting together for coffee or a snack in between classes, just to chat. One day, I asked if she would like to go somewhere off campus to get coffee. Now for me, this was an innocent enough social overture, but R, not being from the US, had a different view about this. I suspect she didn't know how to communicate this cultural difference very well, because the way she expressed her cultural reluctunce to go out in public with someone she did not know very well was to say that "a man in jeans was a mystery man". I didn't get it at first, but it didn't take me long to figure out what she was saying. So, we didn't go off-campus for coffee. That was fine. We continued to simply meet on campus between classes.

I don't know whose idea it was - I think it was hers - but it was suggested that a campus organization for students with disabilities be founded by she and I. This sounded like a good idea to me, so we set about making it happen. To actually create an official campus organization was not difficult. It required a certain number of signatures from the student body and approval by the student organizations office, which was easily obtained. That was that. But then we had to set up the actual organization - officers and members. Members were not in short supply, but filling the officer ranks proved difficult. Apparently, not a single student with a disability on campus wanted to be an officer. We had to seriously pull the legs on this one guy to get him to be the official treasurer. I was very disappointed with people. I felt like people with disabilities did not want to take charge of their own lives - that they did not want to be responsible for themselves or their own welfare, preferring instead to let able-bodied people fight it out for them. So, pretty much by default, R and I became vice-president and president, respectively. I insisted that R be president, since this whole thing was her idea, but she said she felt better off in a VP role. I didn't question her desire to be in a leadership position, so I had no qualms taking the office of president.

I believe I will stop here for now and pick up the trail again later. It's easier to recall that way.

Human laws are human flaws

2009-02-20T18:49:00.006-10:00

Human laws - those made by societies and politicians - are control devices. These laws have nothing to do with "right" and "wrong", even though a largely successful drive to enshrine laws as "right" is present.

Think about it carefully. What is a crime? How do you define a crime? Well, logically, a crime can only be defined as one person hurting another. If you choose to hurt yourself, knowingly, this cannot be a crime. Maybe you need mental help, maybe you don't, but it was your choice either way and not a crime against another person.

So, since a "crime" cannot be defined in any meaningful way except as an injury by one person against another, think of all the things that are "illegal" that are not "crimes".

Drug Use

The use of drugs for one's own personal use is not a crime. If I wanted to grow marijuana and consume pot all day, that is no business but my own. I am not hurting anyone else. You cannot disagree with this. I am factually NOT hurting anyone else. If I offend your sensibilities, that is YOUR problem - YOUR personal journey, not mine. I'm happy over here with my pot. Deal with your own issues and leave me alone, as I am leaving you alone (I have never done drugs, by the way). So if I light up a doobie and you put me in jail, you have then committed a crime against me - you have harmed me when I have not harmed you. I did not take away your freedom by smoking pot, or really had anything to do with you at all. Similarly, it's my own business if I want to grow poppies and smoke opium all day, or shoot up heroin, even until I die. That's my own business, even if it's a sad business. In extreme drug cases, it's perfectly fine for caring friends to intervene, such as with heroin addicts. But arresting an addict and jailing him is a crime against that addict. Such arrest does not only not help the addict, it hurts him further.

So, laws against drugs serve only to control the masses and create opportunities for those in power to exercise power.

Paying Taxes - Or Not

Why is it a crime not to pay taxes? Did you consent to pay taxes? Did you ask someone to collect money from you and use it to build roads and schools, and even go to war against people you have never met and never will meet? If you consent to this, fine, but what if you do not? If I do not want to pay taxes, I do not hurt anyone. I would consider it fair to not be allowed to use roads and schools built by taxes if I did not pay taxes, but if I am jailed for not paying taxes, then the state has committed a crime against me by removing my freedom when I have done nothing to hurt the state. After all, I did not enter into a contract or agreement of any kind with the state. I was simply born here, and that is not an implicit agreement to anything. There is not even anything in this country's founding documents about paying taxes. Hell, this country was founded on the idea that we should not have to pay undue taxes. And now anyone who doesn't pay taxes whether they agree to it or not will go to jail - except those in power, who get away with anything they want.

So, demanding taxes whether you agree to participate or not does nothing except to allow those in power to control the masses through fear.

Mandatory Education

Children are required to go to school until they are 18. Why? Especially these days when children will learn far, far more by going into the world with caring parents and learning through experience. Schools these days - and probably always - are crap. Who the hell really cares about King Loobydoob XVIIIMCXVI who lived about 10 million years ago and cut off people's heads while reciting the Itsy Bitsy Spider? Isn't it more important to find out who you are and learn through direct experience about the stars above and how the earth lives and grows around you? Plus, when I walk by the two schools in my working-to-middle-class neighborhood, they look like prisons. School buses look like prison vehicles transporting hapless saps into boring rooms in which a dull cow yaks about stupid shit. Why do you think kids are always looking forward to the end of the school day and summer vacation? Doesn't that tell you anything? Take your kid outside and go exploring. Forget the prison education. It's not a crime not to put your kid in a public - or private - school. It IS a crime to put your kid there because you're harming your kid by not taking direct responsibility for his growth. And if you take that responsibility, the state will commit a crime against you by putting you in jail and taking your kid away (and thereby committing another crime against the kid). And with the kid in their school, they can cram their crap down the kid's throat and kill all curiosity and life in the child so he'll grow up to be a good little consumer.

So, mandatory education does nothing except allow those in power to force-feed subservience into young people so that they will cause those in power less trouble later in life.

Prostitution

Prostitution - done of one's own free will, of course - is not a crime. A woman - or a man, for that matter - who chooses to use her body as a means to support herself is not committing a crime against somebody else. A person seeking a prostitute, and who respects the boundaries of the deal and pays up, is not committing a crime. What you have here is two adults agreeing to an exchange. No one is hurt. Might it offend your sensibilities or "morals"? Maybe, but that is your own business. The prostitute and her customer did not involve you in their transaction, so if you put them in jail, you have committed a crime against them - you have hurt them by robbing them of their freedom while they have done nothing to you.

So, laws against prostitution are a form of "moral" control by those in power who think they "know better", when really they are so fearful that other not be like them that they have to impose their views on everyone else.

Gun Ownership

Owning a gun - without going through some kind of state-approved process - is illegal. Why? Sure, guns are dangerous. I don't like guns and plan to never own one - and hopefully never have to use one. But owning a gun is not a crime against another person. Most humans are not mature enough to handle a gun, but a crime is only committed when one person uses a gun against another person - not just by one person owning a gun. And when someone intends to committ a crime with a gun, a gun is easy to get anyway. So such laws are useless. I can own and buy swords with no problem and no licensing required. Swords are deadly weapons. What's the difference?

So laws against gun ownership are an obvious form of control by those in power, who wish to keep all the guns to themselves in order to control the masses.

I could go on for a while, but it's bedtime. Good night - and sweet dreams.

Freedom Manifesto #1: The Right to Entertain Oneself

2009-02-20T06:55:00.001-10:00

Currently, all theatres of all kinds throughout the world, except those specifically serving deaf people, are inaccessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Some movie theatres in some places occasionally have a small number of their currently playing titles accessible, but this is usually with an inconvenient technology such as “rear-view captions”. There are even select open-captioned screenings in certain theatres at certain times. Nevertheless, such accessible events are few and far between, and when they do occur, it is during inconvenient times, such as during work hours rather than evenings and weekends.

These events being made accessible during inconvenient times is no accident. These are times when theatres have the fewest patrons in general, and therefore will receive the fewest complaints from the hearing population. And it is important to acknowledge that in most places of the world, including in so-called “industrialized” countries, the hearing population is not only not understanding or sympathetic to the deaf and hard-of-hearing, but hostile. If you are deaf, you should know this. You have probably experienced hearing people getting upset or even walking away from you when you tell them you are deaf. This is a refusal to communicate with another free being. A refusal to communicate, especially when you offer easy alternatives to speech such as writing, is an act of hostility. It is an act of hostility because it takes an intentional decision to refuse to communicate, and to refuse to communicate hurts the person being refused.

By extension, theatres of entertainment (film, plays and musicals) are hostile to the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Some operas are performed with subtitles, but these are for the convenience of the hearing audience who do not know the language of the opera being performed, and these subtitles do not contain any text-description cues to audio events. Such is not only useful to the deaf, but to the hard-of-hearing who enjoy music and opera and can hear enough to enjoy it but find it difficult to pick up on certain auditory cues. The fact that you, as a deaf person, cannot walk into any theatre at any time and enjoy the services offered to the public is a form of oppression. It is the theatre's way of saying “You are not important. You do not matter”.

But you do matter. You are important. And you need to communicate that to those who would rob you of your ability to live freely. And the way to communicate to a business in an extremist capitalist society such as ours is with money – or in this case, the withholding of money. The more money withheld, the more effective the communication. You can write to your senator, representative or mayor, collect signatures, contact the National Association of the Deaf, AG Bell, and other groups, but the most effective way to get a business to change is by withholding your patronage of that business until they are forced to change if they want your business.

The total number of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in this country is considerable. If all people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing acted together, it is a force to be reckoned with. This is many millions of people. If these millions of people stood up today and told all theatres everywhere that they would no longer pay to see the shows they host, these theatres would all but trip over themselves to make their shows accessible. Without those millions of people, they would at best lose a significant amount of money, and at worst, go out of business. In an extremist capitalist society such as ours, this is a business' worst nightmare.

Knowing this, how can you refuse to acknowledge and exercise your own freedom? Pledge to never again attend theatre events unless a particular theatre makes all its events, without exception, accessible at all times.

This is not an attempt at a revolution. This movement does not attempt to change the balance of power. Power over anything except yourself is meaningless. This is an act of rebellion. It is not a way of saying “no” to something. It is a way of quietly but firmly saying “yes” to yourself. A way of saying “Yes – I deserve to be free, and I will not participate in exclusionary systems because doing so makes me – and everyone – less free”.

Bill of Rights, Constitution and Whining

2009-02-20T05:18:00.005-10:00

I have had this thought often.

The founding documents of the United States - the Constitution and the Bill of Rights - are fine ideas, but were written by hypocrites.

Oh, I'm sure there are people who would want my unimportant little head for saying this, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true.

Many of the authors of these documents owned slaves, or knew people who owned slaves. They didn't do or say anything about this. They therefore could not truly believe that ALL men are created equal.

Many of the authors of these documents were involved in or knew about the cruel treatment this land's natives received at the hands of the white oppressors. They didn't do or say anything to oppose this - not to my knowledge. I never read any opposition to this by these authors in my history books. So if these history books are true, these authors did not truly believe that ALL men deserved certain inalienable rights.

So, to wit, as far as I can tell, many of these authors really believed that equality and rights really only belong to white men - not to blacks, natives or women.

So while some of the ideas in these documents are fine ideas, I find it hard to make these documents themselves meaningful to me (the ideas, sure, just not the actual documents). Plus, currently the American people let Those In Power trample all over the place and all over them without opposition. I hear a little whining, but what's whining? Can I fly on whining? Can I evolve and grow with whining? Quit whining!

Cheated out of longevity by beliefs

2009-02-19T17:33:00.000-10:00

I just read the following sentence:

"What we do and how we feel is a function of believing in fictitious limitations which have no basis except in habits."

I've been reading "Rebels and Devils" and religion is often mentioned. Among many other things, this made me wonder about longevity. In the bible, Old Yeawhatshisname lived for 4000 years, his sons lived for 3000, their sons for 2000, and on and on. Notice the pattern here - shorter and shorter lifespans.

While I do not take anything in the bible for Established Fact, legends and such have roots going back to Things That Actually Happened. So taking into account the quoted sentence above, did humans, long ago before recorded history, live for Extremely Long Times, and believing in ever more limitations, shortened their own life spans through such beliefs?

I leave you to think about it.

It REALLY sucks to be deaf

2009-02-17T05:13:00.001-10:00

It really sucks to be deaf in modern American society. Never mind that deaf pride crap. Deaf pride is one or both of the following:

1. An attempt to bolster ego. There's nothing wrong with this, as long as it's acknowledged as such. Unfortunately, it almost always is not.

2. A control device to keep deaf people in their place, and encouraged by the controlling elite.

It's 2 that really bugs me. Deaf people really have to stop blinding themselves to the realities of existence within modern American society (and other societies as well). To wit, deaf people need to be a little less proud of having a disability and realise...

IT FUCKING SUCKS!!!

Now, a deaf person who knows what he's working with and decides to push back the limits, grow, expand, and evolve should be proud of his accomplishments and of what living that way stands for. But I don't think it's healthy to be proud to have a disability. That's just warped and gets in the way of growth. Blind people do not have blind pride. Quadriplegics do not have armless-and-legless pride. Gay pride - good, because gay is different and isn't a disability. Deaf pride - fucks you up and blinds you to the truth. This is actually quite observable. The most successful deaf people I've ever met do not have deaf pride. They're just doing their thing and working with what they've got.

To illustrative how much being deaf really sucks, here's a list of things I cannot do that everyone with normal hearing mostly takes for granted (assumes everyone else around me is not deaf, which is actually true these days):

Walk into a store and get help from a clerk and understand what he's saying easily
Get on the subway and hear announcements about stops, delays and emergencies
Get a job. Most (99.99%) recruiters have simply stopped talking to me after they've emailed me drooling with excitement over my stellar resume and I've had to tell them I need to use email instead of the phone because I'm deaf
Walk through my neighborhood and chat up the neighbors. Sure, some will be nice, but generally most people won't get it
Attend a party and mingle easily
Go out with friends to a restaurant and follow the conversation
Go to the movies at any time and watch any thing I want, just like everyone else
Rent/buy a DVD and be able to watch ALL of it, special features included
Rent/buy a DVD and expect to get verbatim what is being said, even with captions or subtitles
Get pulled over (I'm a good driver, I'm just saying) and expect to be safe. What if it's mistaken identity and the cop thinks my car is stolen or that I might be someone actually dangerous? What if it's a "bad cop"? From my perspective, a big guy is pointing a gun at me and I don't know why
Buy something at a store and know what the cashier is saying if it's anything other than "thankyouhaveaniceday"
Listen to the radio. If I'm in the car, I can't turn on the radio and get news - and more importantly - emergency info in emergencies
Be anywhere, at any time, when an emergency happens and know what is going on when everyone else does because of radios and public announcements
Walk down the street and be prepared to defend myself because some crazy person is coming up behind me to do who knows what and I can't hear his approach. I actually had a deaf friend once who walked past a homeless guy with mental problems. The guy got up and started issuing death threats and my friend, unaware, just kept walking. What if this guy actually intended to do something?
Cross the street and not be able to hear approaching traffic, especially if one or both directions are not very visible. I am EXTREMELY cautious to the point of paranoia when crossing the street, and with good reason. I've been almost hit twice - once by a dump truck. I had to literally run for my life
Buy a music CD and be able to understand the lyrics. If they're not printed, I'm screwed. Even then, it can be hard to follow when the vocals are mixed in certain ways that are still perfectly clear to someone with normal hearing
Watch whatever is on TV at any time. There are many things that are not captioned. It is NOT universal, in case you didn't know. And sometimes the captions are just plain inadequate
Drive my car and hear if something is wrong with the engine
Be at home and know if someone is at the door. Yes, I can set up a flashing doorbell, but that leaves it up to the genius at the door to use it. People often just knock anyway. Plus, what if it's the police and they think I'm evading, not knowing I'm deaf, and kick my door in?
Be able to write off hearing aids, hearing aid parts and hearing aid batteries on my taxes, especially when some stuffed shirt company man can write off a dinners and cars. Give me a fucking break!
Be able to go to a public event without any further notice or planning - just like everyone else can do - and be able to get an interpreter. Or in other words, go to a public event and understand all of it
Call someone without muss or fuss
Take a call without muss or fuss

This is hardly an exhaustive list, but I hope you get the point. Being deaf is so isolating and frustrating that there are many other things I would rather be. I'm a white (white-looking. I'm part Native) deaf guy from a middle-class background. I shit you not, I would rather be a single black mom in the ghetto with 5 kids - in the deep south. Life would be hard, but I wouldn't be as socially isolated (this, by the way, is why I don't have more than token sympathy for single moms or moms with deadbeat dads tagging along. Hey, lady, you can hear. You're STILL not as shut-out as I am. I would MUCH rather be in your shoes).

And so, I will NEVER pay taxes to Uncle Sam again. What for? Give my money to The Man so he can continue to screw me? Uh, no. When I can truly be equal in American society, I will consent to contributing to The Common Good. Until then, society can - and should - kiss every deaf person's little deaf ass.

Background and credit check chuckles

2009-02-13T05:36:00.000-10:00

My girlfriend just told me that her company will do background and credit checks on secretaries "in the near future".

Secretaries.

Not Secretaries of State or Treasury. Office secretaries.

Background checks.

Credit checks.

Ok, some secretaries do handle financial information. But many do not. For new secretaries, a basic background check is fine, but none of this is acceptable for existing secretaries, especially for those like my girlfriend who have been there for years. Seriously, if you do not trust your secretary, and for good reason, fire her (or him). Don't fuck around with their minds and livelihood.

Now, my girlfriend pointed out that her company is a federal contractor, so the company might not have any choice and be following new requirements imposed by the government. This doesn't make it any more acceptable, though. Everyone knows that legal rights for the government and for corporations have little to do with what is morally right (I know how subjective morals are, suffice it to say this violates my own morals).

This all boils down to our now having to fear for her job. I'm "unemployed" (quotes mine. I work on my goals at home and hope to support myself some day. "Regular" employers are not friendly to me because of my disability) and collect disability income, but that is not enough to keep our household going. If I could find work, I'd be happy to take it, but I may end up with less income than SSDI alone unless I snag a great gig. So really, what incentive do I have to take a part-time shit job just to make ends meet? It will likely make ends even further apart.

Anyway, this background and credit check thing raises about a million red flags. I was myself fired for the same bullshit. I didn't handle financial info at the Library of Congress. I got acceptable reviews from my super. I did my job. No employer ever mistrusted me, nor did I ever give any employer any reason to. But they ran their little background checks, fabricated an irrelevant excuse, and told me to get lost. Some people I know who are very down-to-earth and not very creative listened to my story and instantly, on their own, said something was wrong with this picture and that they were not on the level. My father, himself a government employee, thinks someone else wanted my job. I'm inclined to take him at his word, as he is not the type to make shit up or be paranoid about anything.

What this means is my girlfriend's company is looking to get rid of people they can't otherwise get rid of. You know, the hard-working, good employees that maybe somebody doesn't like, just because that somebody is a jerk. It happens all the time. I once worked at the National Foreign Language Center and boy do those people have problems. Half the staff I knew left within a year because the other half were petty assholes who got them fired because they were jealous. I was one of those people. My super didn't communicate well to me - a deaf employee - and then got mad because I didn't finish something on time that I didn't know was due. I should sue them for discrimination, but in the end, I do not want to work there anyway (would you?). Another guy, my mentor in their IT department, was forced out of his job because someone else didn't like how much money he was making - and even that was sub-par for someone in that field with his qualifications. And that was after they tempted him to move from his home in Texas to Maryland. So, yeah, real assholes. This guy ended up at Microsoft making way more money, so the NFLC only hurt themselves. I ended up being able to pursue my own aspirations, as did my former PM there, so really, when you go after your employees, you only hurt yourself. Good employees roll with it and end up even better, so boo ya, suckas!

Well, you have to draw your own conclusions. My experience has taught me that when employers start sniffing around, they are not up to anything good. So if your company starts changing their policies and getting into any kind of "lock-down" mode, start looking real hard for your next gig and be prepared to be able to walk out one day and not look back.

A big boo-hoo for social security workers

2009-02-12T11:30:00.000-10:00

This is a good article, but only because it reflects society's ignorance about people who really are suffering at the hands of society/the government/welfare agencies.

Washington Post article

I left a comment. There are some other good comments, interspersed with garbage.

Further rants on the banking fiasco

2009-01-30T08:48:00.000-10:00

In my last post, I ranted about my bank. Well, this just occurred to me: the morons at my bank are financially untrustworthy, and I was fired from the Library of Congress because I was deemed "untrustworthy" by them for financial reasons, even though my job there had nothing at all to do with finance, and even though I'd been there a year and proven beyond the doubt of a shadow my trustworthiness. I could have royally fucked up their systems, with the level of access I had, had I been so inclined, but that's just not me.

So the people who actually are untrustworthy, and prove it by their actions, have jobs while I, who has never given any employer any reason not to trust me, continue to not have one.

Do I maybe have it all backwards? Do I need to become an incompetent, thoughtless asshole in order to support myself in this society?

On Ch-asshole-ostan

2009-01-26T08:26:00.000-10:00

I found this: http://nextstrategies.blogspot.com/2009/01/chaostan.html

In case the blog owner declines my comment, I will post it here:

"This land is made up of regions and countries with a long history of political & economic instability,"

Such as the US.

"little personal or economic freedom,"

Such as in the US.

"and no experience with common (natural) law."

Western society, and US society in particular is so out of touch with natural law and the order of things, it's not even funny.

"These areas are often tribal, with people more loyal to ancient ethnic lines and religious sects than to their modern nation-states."

America! Duh! Politics here is all about favouritism and bible-thumping.

"It would be thought that a part of the world with such abundance of natural resources would be very wealthy. This is not the case. Although the ruling classes in these regions often have immense wealth, the common folks tend to be among the poorest in the world. In part, this is due to a lack of education, but mostly it has to do with the lack of concepts such as economic liberty and personal property rights."

This all applies to good ol' US of A as well. Not only is there a lack of education in this country, there is a deliberate effort to under-educate the common folk - no child left behind? How about every child left behind? And the American people are not standing up for their own liberties and property rights, and are letting the ruling class shit all over them.

"In contrast to Chaostan, Maybury lists what he considers the “Lands of Liberty.” These are nations where a tradition of liberty has been established – the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, the UK, Ireland and most of Western Europe. In these areas, economic liberty and personal property rights are well-established & the citizens are more loyal to their nation-states than to tribal, ethnic or religious groups."

Dude, get a clue. The common folk in this country have no real liberties. I cannot choose to exit the system. I don't have the choice of saying "I will not use your roads and your public services in exchange for not paying taxes for those services". The Gestapo will come after me if I do that - is that liberty? I think not. And what about Northern Ireland? Not everyone in the so-called "UK" feels the "U". Many of these other countries are just little Americas.

Try again, pal.

Why Deaf People Should Get Disability For Life, Volume 1

2009-01-20T06:52:00.000-10:00

Many of you, including some deaf readers, I'm sure, will disagree with me, but I've come to the conclusion that until society grows the fuck up, deaf people (meaning people who cannot listen easily without lip-reading, even with hearing aids) should get social security disability income for life - even if they work full-time. They also should never have to pay personal income taxes. Why should they? What do they get? Not access to public announcements, word-for-word captioning, and sign-language interpreters whenever and wherever they need or even want one. So fuck taxes, buddy. We ain't gettin' anything for it.

Now, keep in mind I do not believe in welfare states. I believe it's important for all people to push their boundaries back - especially if you have a disability. So if you're just a wanker, even a deaf one, fuck off. But deaf people get so much fucking crap and so many inconveniences beyond the norm that society should be forced to pay a debt to the people they mindlessly, and often deliberately, inconvenience (yes, many people deliberately discriminate. Don't act surprised).

For example, online video. My girlfriend has a Netflix account and we watch a lot of movies. But I can't watch a single fucking movie online because Netflix simply will not add any fucking captions or subtitles. I used to work in an area that taught me that to do this is very easy - and yet they will not do it. They will not do it despite the fact that busloads of hearing people want this feature for themselves. What the fuck is that all about? Capitalism gone to such extremes that companies now say "Fuck off. You'll do it our way if you want it". I'm sorry, but I'm old-fashioned. The company makes its products the customers' way or they go out of business.

Let me give you a more personal example. My bank check card was "breached" and my bank blocked point-of-sale for that card. I'm glad they have security for customers, but the bank said they tried to call me. Tomorrow, I have to go into the bank and speak to a manager and make sure they fucking understand that I'm deaf, I have no direct phone number, and that they cannot just call me if this happens. They HAVE to email me or use online banking's messaging system. No calls. I don't use a land-line or a cell phone - just email and internet relay. So I'm wondering what the hell happened to my check card all weekend (it was first declined on a Friday and the following Monday was a holiday) when someone with normal hearing would have gotten a phone call. If society were more enlightened, I would have gotten an email or other instant form of communication.

Fucking hell.

Introduction To Insanity

2009-01-08T08:50:00.000-10:00

I've started blogs about this topic before - and ending up abandoning them. I'm not after publicity or pity. I don't care about getting revenge. So in the past, whatever blog I started ending up by the wayside. I've just got my own life to live, you know? Move on, and all that. Life's too short to dwell obsessively on what went wrong.

But a lot did go wrong, and much of it is just so bizarre and unconscionable that I keep thinking perhaps I need to say something. Perhaps others can learn from my experiences as I have. Perhaps others can see that they are not alone when they've been persecuted by the system. And perhaps someday we can all learn what not to do and why politics is the slow, hard, and harmful way of living.

I'm going to try to start at the beginning and work my way to the present, though I may not always do a good job of it. I may want to chuck this journal and edit the hell out of it, but I will try to resist those urges. Things are what they are, and while many people will not understand, they should be given all the information they need should they chose to try to understand.

So here's a synopsis: Back in college, I got married to someone who ended up abusing me in many ways. One of the consequences of this abuse was the complete destruction of my financial affairs and ability to get a day job, compounded by the fact that I'm deaf and finding a day job is hard enough as it is. Because I was incapable of rational thought while I was being abused for the six years I was married, one of the bad choices I made was to continue receiving social security disability income while I was working. After I lost my last job - I was fired on false charges - the Social Security Administration stopped my disability and I had to fight to get it back. They want me to repay the $125,000 they gave me while I was working (withhold your judgement until you read more of this blog. I don't contest the amount or the charge, but I didn't rack this up on my own. I was being abused, and was not very mentally competent). At present, I am receiving my monthly disability minus a $200 installment payment for this overpayment, which I am still contesting.

In addition to all this, the IRS claims - claims is the right word here - I owe $75,000, more than half of which I suspect is now penalties and interest and is therefore in my mind extortion. That I owe them at all is again due to having been abused and having had my affairs wrecked. They continue to threaten liens and demand payment, despite the fact that they have been told many times that I am unemployed, disabled, dependent on welfare, and am an innocent spouse.

I also owe the Department of Education because my ex-spouse caused my student loans to default (this will be explained. Yes, someone else can cause things like this to happen to you), and they have been garnishing my social security disability income. They also will not listen. There is apparently a law that allows the government to garnish welfare, which boggles the mind. Would you give alms to a homeless man on the street and then forcefully take back a part of it? Well, that's what this is.

So there it is. I don't know how often I will post, but I'm starting to feel that I have been given the time and opportunity to make public some of the atrocities that are being committed by our government, in the hopes that people will start to learn, put an end to their own suffering and take back the personal power they've chosen to give away.