It is now Your Time Gentlemen.
It is your duty and responsibility to the American People to speak out from Experience, Memory, and Knowledge; Those who were alive in the seventies, Who Remember the Protests, The Administrations Lies, the Bullshit, and especially those who served as proud Americans and saw the cost, first hand, of at the expense of the 1%. Those who were shelled, while Shell oil transports sat in the harbor within range of the enemy's weapons, but were immune to attack because Shell paid the Vietnamese not to do so. It is your duty to remind America of the guile of her politicians. (One of many stories the country should be reminded of...)
And why now? Because there are many other similarities between the seventies and the present, that those who were there should remember. The reason we were in Vietnam?
To stop the ‘spread’ of communism? And today’s fear? The ‘spread’ of nuclear weapons. And who is using that ‘spread’ word and continuing to propagate fear of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ and ‘Al Qaeda in Iraq’ and ‘Axis of Terror’ etc?
Our GOOD OL' BOY: John McCain for no change. This jerk wants to recycle the mistakes of the Seventies; probably thinks our memories are completely up in smoke!
Another similarity to the Seventies? Recession. Inflation. Skyrocketing oil prices (Vietnam wasn't helping. Iraq isn't helping).
And the Commander of all US forces in the Pacific? John McCain's Father. 1968.
A Position very Close to the top, I would imagine. A man whom would know the truth, have to be a team player and, maybe, get a cut of the Profit? Or maybe have his wife get a cut? We questioned the whole damn war, so why shouldn't I now question the integrity of the Admiral, and his successor? The Vietnam war was an imperialistic military action for a Profit. So is Iraq. Like father like Son. Let's remember and end it now!
John McCain is showing the signs of a man who will do anything to win.
How Senator McCain can stand and state that Senator Obama has no right to question his action in regards to our veteran affairs because Senator Obama is not a veteran is outrageous. It is exactly the kind of arrogance and attitude that makes Senator John McCain a dangerous candidate, and a pompous asshole.
I spent six years in the Army, and my family spent three hundred years before that conquering, and defending this country, so that everyone (including Senator Obama) can give their opinion and question the Powers that be! I am American; would the Senator ever question my right to question him by virtue of his position?
Additionally, Senator McCain is willing to continue the current policies that waste billions of dollars a day, yet votes against a bill for veterans benefits that cost less per year than a days worth of folly in Iraq? That is not a veteran's actions. Those are the actions of The Profiteer. The Senators actions belie his words, and he is not a veteran that this veteran would trusts.
And I'm a super-American-voice; my family are North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountain Hillbilly charter members.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Result of Being Lazy
That's what these literary outburst of ignorance are; the result of my being too lazy to work around the property laboriously, and maybe also no money for materials. That means no money to eat out, drink in bars, ride my motorcycle, cruise aimlessly around being bored or travel… none of the good shit. So I write to occupy my time. But even that isn't easy.
Another result of being lazy is I lack the vocabulary it takes to fully express my deep, complicated, often emotional perspectives on the world around me. As I said before (I Can Write Too 12Nov07), although my vocabulary is not in the league of a senior classman at Berkeley. It dooooonnn't matter, I should practice ‘PLEASE’ and ‘THANK YOU’ more (and place less emphasis on ‘aahhhh fuuuuuuuck it’ and ‘it don't matter’).
But it does matter. You could put my vocabulary inside my sons two or three times now. They taught themselves everything they know, academically speaking, over the last twenty years while I was lazy. Now, grown, intellectual, educated, possessing reflections on the world capable to those with great minds, I can only hope to understand them and converse on their level.
What is the African Proverb?
When the sun rises in Africa the fastest lion knows that he has to be faster than the slowest gazelle otherwise he ain’t going to eat.
When the sun rises in Africa the slowest gazelle knows that he has to be faster than the fastest Lion otherwise he ain’t going to live.
In other words, it doesn't matter, Lion or Gazelle, when that sun comes up, your ass better be running.
In the human world though, with enough food and without the fear of being eaten, one's conscious becomes the a slow old lion. And that sun still comes up every day and, academically and intellectually, I've been lazy for twenty years. I don’t rest easy to my sons eating me alive, now. But its the consequence of being lazy.
Another result of being lazy is not being well read enough to expertly and authoritatively expound on my ideas. Like this morning I was drinking coffee and thinking about St. Peter at the Golden Gate, then I realized is all I could remember is he stands guard at the Golden Gate (not in the Bay Area (don't be silly)).
So... I googled ‘St. Peter at the Golden Gate’, and sure enough there it was; every website mentioned guarding the Golden Gate. And that's the part that got me to thinking...
It would seem to me that if there wasn't any way to sneak into Heaven, they wouldn't need a guard. Therefore, since there is a guard, you must be able to sneak into heaven. And that opens up all kinds of avenues of thought.
Remember the saying, ‘May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you're dead’? Well, maybe the Irishman that made it up knew something we don't. Like there's a little lag time between this world and that gate where a guy could get ‘lost’. Or, maybe if you can beat your files there, you can slip past ol' St Peter before he finds out you don't have a clean slate.
It sounds good to me, but logistically there is still that initial problem of how to get to the Gate. It reminds me of a few years back when those people rented that house on the Oceanside so they could have a party with Wine and Sleeping pills, then they suffocated themselves in order to catch Haley's comet and go to Heaven. I could never figure out why, if they could jump to Haley’s comet, couldn't they leap all the way to Heaven? Why screw around with a layover? If I want to beat the Devil by a half hour, I better leap direct!
Anyway, all of this bullshit is a result of being lazy. Not forcing myself to do anything other then look out the window and wave to the people stopping to look. When I'm not waving, the keyboard is right in front of my hands and so I write.
I should appreciate the last of this time in the shack. If the number of cars slow rolling by, and those that stop to take flyers from the container are any indicator, I will be moving soon. Even writing it saddens me. I could be lazy here forever, if only it wasn't Hell Explained.
Work, work, work; makes you feel good, good, good (Grandpa Bud).
Another result of being lazy is I lack the vocabulary it takes to fully express my deep, complicated, often emotional perspectives on the world around me. As I said before (I Can Write Too 12Nov07), although my vocabulary is not in the league of a senior classman at Berkeley. It dooooonnn't matter, I should practice ‘PLEASE’ and ‘THANK YOU’ more (and place less emphasis on ‘aahhhh fuuuuuuuck it’ and ‘it don't matter’).
But it does matter. You could put my vocabulary inside my sons two or three times now. They taught themselves everything they know, academically speaking, over the last twenty years while I was lazy. Now, grown, intellectual, educated, possessing reflections on the world capable to those with great minds, I can only hope to understand them and converse on their level.
What is the African Proverb?
When the sun rises in Africa the fastest lion knows that he has to be faster than the slowest gazelle otherwise he ain’t going to eat.
When the sun rises in Africa the slowest gazelle knows that he has to be faster than the fastest Lion otherwise he ain’t going to live.
In other words, it doesn't matter, Lion or Gazelle, when that sun comes up, your ass better be running.
In the human world though, with enough food and without the fear of being eaten, one's conscious becomes the a slow old lion. And that sun still comes up every day and, academically and intellectually, I've been lazy for twenty years. I don’t rest easy to my sons eating me alive, now. But its the consequence of being lazy.
Another result of being lazy is not being well read enough to expertly and authoritatively expound on my ideas. Like this morning I was drinking coffee and thinking about St. Peter at the Golden Gate, then I realized is all I could remember is he stands guard at the Golden Gate (not in the Bay Area (don't be silly)).
So... I googled ‘St. Peter at the Golden Gate’, and sure enough there it was; every website mentioned guarding the Golden Gate. And that's the part that got me to thinking...
It would seem to me that if there wasn't any way to sneak into Heaven, they wouldn't need a guard. Therefore, since there is a guard, you must be able to sneak into heaven. And that opens up all kinds of avenues of thought.
Remember the saying, ‘May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you're dead’? Well, maybe the Irishman that made it up knew something we don't. Like there's a little lag time between this world and that gate where a guy could get ‘lost’. Or, maybe if you can beat your files there, you can slip past ol' St Peter before he finds out you don't have a clean slate.
It sounds good to me, but logistically there is still that initial problem of how to get to the Gate. It reminds me of a few years back when those people rented that house on the Oceanside so they could have a party with Wine and Sleeping pills, then they suffocated themselves in order to catch Haley's comet and go to Heaven. I could never figure out why, if they could jump to Haley’s comet, couldn't they leap all the way to Heaven? Why screw around with a layover? If I want to beat the Devil by a half hour, I better leap direct!
Anyway, all of this bullshit is a result of being lazy. Not forcing myself to do anything other then look out the window and wave to the people stopping to look. When I'm not waving, the keyboard is right in front of my hands and so I write.
I should appreciate the last of this time in the shack. If the number of cars slow rolling by, and those that stop to take flyers from the container are any indicator, I will be moving soon. Even writing it saddens me. I could be lazy here forever, if only it wasn't Hell Explained.
Work, work, work; makes you feel good, good, good (Grandpa Bud).
Sunday, May 25, 2008
The End of Days
Sons and People, It's all there, these end of time predictions, encoded in the old testament of the bible. Using computer technology they've discovered a matrix that predicted this, and a matrix that predicted that. I don't know why they can't figure these predictions out before they happen. Did you know that within hours after 9/11 they discovered a matrix in the bible that predicted the whole thing?
Of course, some skeptics have run the same computer analysis on the Hebrew edition of Moby Dick and discovered the same matrices. It's the great debate: almighty God or conscious algae from a warm pond? In the end it seems to be the same; dust to dust.
This whole Biblical Code changes things though. Mankind/life would have a purpose. A purpose to the puzzle. To crack the code.
Have you guessed that I'm watching an episode of The History Channel on "The Bible Code - Apocalypse and Beyond"?
It's the 'beyond' part that concerns me. I hope God likes me enough to rapture my ass out of here on the first ship. I was talking to the boys in the city in the valley where the two rivers meet and according to them if you don't get the first ship out, you've missed the boat. I thought if you missed the first chance, you could still make the second string, IF you make the cut. According to them Rapture is the cut.
All the more reason to decipher that 'biblical code' and be at the station on time. This shit is important, you know? As mankind races to The End of Days, I'm thinking I might actually need to read the Bible, and Moby Dick again. Maybe I can come up with a matrix that ties both stories together and become the bridge between the Almighty and the skeptics.
High Aspirations.
And lets face it, these guys coming up with the matrices, they're way out of my league. They've got Doctorates in mathematics, history, theology, etc. A lot of them have that little round skull cap, too. The hat of 'the Chosen'. Hell, is all I've got is a fitted Kings hat from which I removed the bill. But it says, 'KINGS' on it. And as the descendant of a bastard son of King Richard the Lion Heart, it's all good!
Hey, I ain't worried about being blasphemous, this is a popularity contest, and the only way to heaven is if the BIG girl likes you. 'Hell Explained', explains it. And 'make her laugh' is always a top priority for womanizing young men! I don't care what people think. If she likes me, who is going to override her decision because I didn't make Sunday School. And if she doesn't like you... well, changing images is a lot harder then creating them.
Now, is all I've got to do is crack that code and confidently hang around and wait, I hope.
Anyway, should any of the facts, ideas, or research done on this paper be in error, blame the damn History Channel for putting it on the air and making me think about it. Oh, and correct me if I'm wrong. Otherwise, I would have written about the weather or something.
Raining today in southern Oregon. Good for the Jungle.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend
Raining today in southern Oregon. Good for the Jungle.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend
Saturday, May 24, 2008
$150 a Barrel of Oil
Another doomsday report from southern Oregon, but first... BE HAPPY. Spend your stimulus check.. no better not. When it makes no difference to the economy at all, you might find it depressing to think of the billions the American people have been swindled, while your cut was a mere few hundred dollars.
Yes, I've been watching the news today. Some of it is almost humorous, if not tragic. Ford Excusions, Chevy Suburbans, BIG trucks, SUVs, all of those $40 - 60k vehicles aren't worth 30% of their original cost less than two years after they're purchased. People trying to trade them in due to the gas crisis (again, circa 1976) are finding they have no re-sale value due to the cost of gas. What? You don't have $240 to fill the tank on your 3\4 ton that gets ten miles to the gallon? No matter, it'll still look good with those 22" rims. Hey... and if the asphalt gets so hot your tires stick to the pavement and two wheel drives can't move, you got four wheel drive, just no gas!
I mean, what the hell did you expect? People out there living in $500 a month apartments, driving SUVs with $600 a month payments, plus insurance (maybe) and gas too. Then there's the homeowner who refinanced and bought that car. Now he's upside down in his house. Then he tries to cut expenses, dump the gas hog, and what happens? He's upside down in the SUV, or already lost $20-30k.
Uh-oh, it's the spiral effect and it's snowballing.
I'm poor, so we must keep in mind my views are from one who views gas prices as devastating to people on fixed and lower incomes.
However, why would anybody want to buy a new car today? Motor home? Hell, at this point anything that burns gas is a bad investment. Soon fuel costs for private transportation will become prohibitive. Which brings us to $150 a barrel oil prices. It was only two months ago that oil hit a previously un-thought of $100 a barrel. At that time gas was over $3 a gallon.
Today it's at $130+ a barrel, and at the current rates of increase it should be $150 by the end of June. As I stated before (All Things Being Equal 05 MAY 08), the price of gas will be $5.25 a gallon by the end of summer and, unfortunately, everything else is going to be 35% more expensive too.
Now here's the back breaker; while everything else becomes more expensive (and the dollar loses value), your house, which is your hedge against inflation, loses value too! Coming and going, Baby, coming and going.
Anyway, don't get me wrong, I'm not worried. Misery loves company and I'm lonely as hell, and I've already downscaled. It ain't all bad. There are unprecedented opportunities in the decline, also. One only need know where to look. I'm looking to the garden.
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Buyers
Sons,
I woke up this morning with a stomach ache. The same stomach ache I have every morning. It's worse lately. I went back to bed, slept in till almost eleven o'clock, maybe later. I don't know what time it was, really, when I got up to make coffee and start a fire. I stepped outside to grab a little kindling; it was then I thought I heard someone call "hellooooo".
I even called "hellooooooo" back, but hearing no reply, and having collected the kindling, I went back inside to start the morning routine.
I even chuckled at myself; hearing voices.
I do have visitors. This month alone there were the Canadian Honkers, The wild Turkey, Grey Mule deer daily, and everybody whom drives by for the first time will take pictures, or stop to admire the shack. I might start taking pictures of the people taking pictures. And I've been to the city in the valley where the two rivers meet twice in May, and up to Oregon city (by Portland) visiting this month. I'm not lonely enough to be hearing voices.
But there it was again..."helloooooooo".
This time when I looked up, there they were; two women standing in the driveway, looking at the glass shack, cooing "helloooooooo", and probably wondering if there was life behind the mirrors.
COMPANY!
I could hardly get my shoes on fast enough. I recognized them. Potential BUYERS.
(Who the hell else could they be? I'm not exactly in the right area for a neighborhood stroll, unless you're a bear, and I can't remember the last time a damsel in distress didn't smell of liquor or worse. On the fringe of the wilderness, here, it's worse. No, they were looking for property; they had the mannerisms of not wanting to intrude, but being curious. The younger hung back a little as they approached, uncertain if they would be welcome (WELCOME? They were invited to breakfast!).
After exchanging introductions, we talked about southern Oregon, and myself, and the weather here, etc (of course, as you are aware, I can talk). One of the ladies asked me why I was selling. I replied, only half honestly, because I don't have any idea where the next adventure takes me. "I was thinking of going to China to teach English."
And then the MAGIC started. One has to be careful with MAGIC. The main ingredient is Illusion. The younger women replied, "Oh, I just graduated from the University of Southern California. My major was Chinese-Mandarin. My mom taught English in Taiwan.
Speaking Chinese, I asked if she spoke Mandarin, when she replied in Mandarin it was like the lightening bolt. I invited them in.
(It is often noted by those who have studied a foreign language, the difference it makes breaking down barriers, when you speak another’s language. I.e. entering a shop in Chinatown San Francisco, or a Chinese owned shop in London, The moment I speak Chinese everything changes; I'm a friend, we have something in common. I'm looked at, spoken to, treated entirely different then a common 'ugly American'. When the young woman spoke to me in Chinese, everything changed. We all seemed to relax; it was no longer ‘business’. It was business with someone you like.
I showed them the inside of the house. I told them stories. We talked about what they were looking for in land and purpose. I talked too much, listened too little. I enjoyed their company immensely. After seeing the house, and politely keeping me company, the ladies asked to see the springs. We hiked the hill and saw the springs. I never shut up, and they never seemed bored. I had fun.
When I looked at my watch after walking them out the gate, it was 4:30. By my estimate those ladies had spent 4 hours visiting with me. It was no wonder their ears were turning blue when they left. I hope they enjoyed themselves as mush as I did.
But now, the analysis.
Being who I am, I had to consider: what are the chances of two Mandarin speaking, American born, round eyed women, showing up at my property as potential buyers? Just being potential buyers weans the numbers way down, and drives the odds conversely up. And speaking Chinese as a second language too? Lastly, how did four hours go by? Maybe they found the circumstances as compelling as I did. That's doubtful, and I love to talk.
The whole thing was MAGICAL. Unexplainable. Illusion: I should be so interesting, they should be so interested. Like the THUNDERBOLT. I had fun, but never forget, "the male ego can make anything reality" and so I have to wonder, and considering the odds, I must ask, who were they really? Is the world really that small? Oh well, another day in southern Oregon, but this one escaped much too quickly.
I woke up this morning with a stomach ache. The same stomach ache I have every morning. It's worse lately. I went back to bed, slept in till almost eleven o'clock, maybe later. I don't know what time it was, really, when I got up to make coffee and start a fire. I stepped outside to grab a little kindling; it was then I thought I heard someone call "hellooooo".
I even called "hellooooooo" back, but hearing no reply, and having collected the kindling, I went back inside to start the morning routine.
I even chuckled at myself; hearing voices.
I do have visitors. This month alone there were the Canadian Honkers, The wild Turkey, Grey Mule deer daily, and everybody whom drives by for the first time will take pictures, or stop to admire the shack. I might start taking pictures of the people taking pictures. And I've been to the city in the valley where the two rivers meet twice in May, and up to Oregon city (by Portland) visiting this month. I'm not lonely enough to be hearing voices.
But there it was again..."helloooooooo".
This time when I looked up, there they were; two women standing in the driveway, looking at the glass shack, cooing "helloooooooo", and probably wondering if there was life behind the mirrors.
COMPANY!
I could hardly get my shoes on fast enough. I recognized them. Potential BUYERS.
(Who the hell else could they be? I'm not exactly in the right area for a neighborhood stroll, unless you're a bear, and I can't remember the last time a damsel in distress didn't smell of liquor or worse. On the fringe of the wilderness, here, it's worse. No, they were looking for property; they had the mannerisms of not wanting to intrude, but being curious. The younger hung back a little as they approached, uncertain if they would be welcome (WELCOME? They were invited to breakfast!).
After exchanging introductions, we talked about southern Oregon, and myself, and the weather here, etc (of course, as you are aware, I can talk). One of the ladies asked me why I was selling. I replied, only half honestly, because I don't have any idea where the next adventure takes me. "I was thinking of going to China to teach English."
And then the MAGIC started. One has to be careful with MAGIC. The main ingredient is Illusion. The younger women replied, "Oh, I just graduated from the University of Southern California. My major was Chinese-Mandarin. My mom taught English in Taiwan.
Speaking Chinese, I asked if she spoke Mandarin, when she replied in Mandarin it was like the lightening bolt. I invited them in.
(It is often noted by those who have studied a foreign language, the difference it makes breaking down barriers, when you speak another’s language. I.e. entering a shop in Chinatown San Francisco, or a Chinese owned shop in London, The moment I speak Chinese everything changes; I'm a friend, we have something in common. I'm looked at, spoken to, treated entirely different then a common 'ugly American'. When the young woman spoke to me in Chinese, everything changed. We all seemed to relax; it was no longer ‘business’. It was business with someone you like.
I showed them the inside of the house. I told them stories. We talked about what they were looking for in land and purpose. I talked too much, listened too little. I enjoyed their company immensely. After seeing the house, and politely keeping me company, the ladies asked to see the springs. We hiked the hill and saw the springs. I never shut up, and they never seemed bored. I had fun.
When I looked at my watch after walking them out the gate, it was 4:30. By my estimate those ladies had spent 4 hours visiting with me. It was no wonder their ears were turning blue when they left. I hope they enjoyed themselves as mush as I did.
But now, the analysis.
Being who I am, I had to consider: what are the chances of two Mandarin speaking, American born, round eyed women, showing up at my property as potential buyers? Just being potential buyers weans the numbers way down, and drives the odds conversely up. And speaking Chinese as a second language too? Lastly, how did four hours go by? Maybe they found the circumstances as compelling as I did. That's doubtful, and I love to talk.
The whole thing was MAGICAL. Unexplainable. Illusion: I should be so interesting, they should be so interested. Like the THUNDERBOLT. I had fun, but never forget, "the male ego can make anything reality" and so I have to wonder, and considering the odds, I must ask, who were they really? Is the world really that small? Oh well, another day in southern Oregon, but this one escaped much too quickly.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
McCain for No Change
People,
I'm a troubled soul and my teeth don't fit properly, but I still don't work my jaw around as much as Senator John McCain. Every time I see the Senator, he seems exasperated with the ignorance that questions him. If we were all enlightened then, of course, we would agree with him. Meanwhile, isn't it bothersome, all these questions? He reminds me of old men I bothered as a kid.
Admiral Grandpa and Admiral Pa never faced this type of scrutiny. Admirals give orders, make choices, mold worlds. Nobody questioned the admirals.The military is authoritarian. John McCain is a military man. Can you see where I'm going with this? I'm just getting started, too.
I got shit to say about Senator McCain. First thing, it would be best to leave 'wives' out of the campaign. A word of the wise to the McCain campaign.
Secondly, I don't want anyone who suffered at the hands of captors as long as Senator McCain did as President.
I respect the Senator, however, he failed his mission, was captured, was unable to escape, and has to be scarred, deeply, from the experience. I don't want little voices in the night, or the necessity to exert his 'power' (free at last from the cage) running the country.
I've said it before, too. If they'll do anything to get elected, don't elect them. And the tactics. I saw the original debate where Obama said he would 'talk' with our adversaries. First Hillary, and now McCain, distort that statement way out of proportion. Dirty tactics. McCain should recognize someone's got to lose, and take the high road. Win or lose, 2 to 1 he's dead in eight years, regardless. A vote for McCain is a vote for no change.
VOTE for ISOLATIONISM and IMPERIALISM.
VOTE for ISOLATIONISM and IMPERIALISM.
First we disband all international companies. Afterward, we cancel all debt owed to foreign countries and freeze all monies in American banks. As part of our new Isolationist Government, we will allow no money to leave the country, keep all monies in the country, and seize all foreign assets. There will be no imports and no exports. If we need it and don't have it, we'll initialize the Imperialistic half of the new Government. conquer and exploit. Kick their ass, make 'em a state, give 'em a fair cut.
The American way. Don't question me; my forefathers fought, kicked ass, and created states from the country's inception: the American way!
Everybody feel better politically about your choices now?
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Problem with Mortality
The problem of mortality has been bothering me quite a bit lately. I think it has to do with too much time to think. Life and space; those two things that bother me when I think about them. Space because it's infinite. Life because it's finite. I don't like the idea of life being over. What about all those tomorrows I'll never know? What about all those promises on tomorrow? I don't like the idea of space never ending. It seems to me at a certain point space should turn to solid. When I think about it, space and death should switch characteristics. Life should go on forever (true believers believe it does). Space should have some boundaries. Nope, end of the line, got to tunnel from here. Shake it up a little.
A man shouldn't have to wind down to mortality. At twenty I figured I had 80+ of Life left, but at 51 I KNOW that I have used at least almost half my Life. If I knew I could only live till I was sixty,... Oh, but even figuring to live to 105... every day another step toward the inevitable. Live every day like it's your last. Every day the odds of another decreases a little. Finite. But if life and space could switch characteristics, at fifty one you'd know you were half way to solid, and could look forward to a new world of tunneling.
All of this contemplation has led me to a new conclusion though. Given the choice of being the soul survivor of a dead world and spending the rest of my life alone, but having it all, or perishing with the rest of mankind at once in a meteor cloud or some other catastrophe, I would prefer to die with the masses in the calamity, rather than of loneliness. It has just occurred to me where I want to be buried, too. I don't. I want to be taken to the edge of the atmoshere and fired into space like a human cannonball. Then, even if life has ended, the road will go on forever.
A man shouldn't have to wind down to mortality. At twenty I figured I had 80+ of Life left, but at 51 I KNOW that I have used at least almost half my Life. If I knew I could only live till I was sixty,... Oh, but even figuring to live to 105... every day another step toward the inevitable. Live every day like it's your last. Every day the odds of another decreases a little. Finite. But if life and space could switch characteristics, at fifty one you'd know you were half way to solid, and could look forward to a new world of tunneling.
All of this contemplation has led me to a new conclusion though. Given the choice of being the soul survivor of a dead world and spending the rest of my life alone, but having it all, or perishing with the rest of mankind at once in a meteor cloud or some other catastrophe, I would prefer to die with the masses in the calamity, rather than of loneliness. It has just occurred to me where I want to be buried, too. I don't. I want to be taken to the edge of the atmoshere and fired into space like a human cannonball. Then, even if life has ended, the road will go on forever.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Grand Theft Auto 4
Coinciding with oil reaching another record high of $123 a barrel today, the new video game 'Grand Theft Auto 4' generates $500 million in sales in it's first 1/2 week. That's half a BILLION in three and a half days in video game sales.
At the same time Myamar loses 100 thousand plus people in a cyclone (hurricane), and a good portion of Asia's rice crop is destroyed or threatened, unfotunately and coincidently, the week after experts predict world food shortages. Yet there is still $500,000,000 paid for this one new video game in 3 and a 1/2 days worth of sales. I underline this point because I wonder what the total game sales will in a week, month, year?
Now, I'm no Reverend Wright, and I won't claim to know anything about the divine plan, or how God really thinks. I'm not even going to claim there is a GOD, but supposing there is... then what the hell would you guess the Almighty is going to think upon her appraisal of the current state of affairs: "Things can't be that damn bad" or "How bad can it get"? Might depend on how many shares of Microsoft God owns.
Half a billion in retail sales has to be good for the stimulus package. Let me do a little research on that game and see if the money is going to China....
And just back from Google... Xbox is Microsoft. There you are; the rich get richer. And using theological criteria of appraisal for logic, God has to own a piece of Microsoft, otherwise no way in hell they could have that kind of success. Anyway, if the world falls apart, Americans don't think they care. They're stealing cars on the computer, and getting life's lessons from the perverted wisdom of Wall Street, graphic designers and the thrills of cyberspace.
What are life's lessons? I would guess for every life they are different. In America, where the vast majority of the now living population did not experience the Great Depression, where Baby Boomers have lived their entire lives in what, for the most part, was the expanding economy of the richest nation on earth, the lessons of life already learned may not apply to the world of the future. A world with a shrinking economy and the comforts and luxuries of yesteryear gone.
In a shrinking world, new lessons of life may be necessary to learn and, for Americans, it won't be easy. A world where property depreciates and today's pleasures can't be paid for with tommorrow's equity. How the hell are Americans going to pay for all those $35K SUVs, and put gas into them all $5 a gallon, if we can't refinance our homes every 3 to 5 years? That's why SUV sales are down in the billions and my Jeep has 235 thousand miles. Lessons learned.
A world where people go hungry. Everybody I know that has ever 'starved', afterward they could never be rich enough. Being hungry for food to sustain life, survive, must leave a long and lasting impression/fear. Today's native born Americans, for the most part, have never known real hunger. And the mass production of food depends on fuel and petrol chemicals and the weather. Absurd, Americans hungry! Not in our lifetimes. Hopefully.
Furthermore, in America (in our lifetimes) opportunity has always been available. Why save, just go make more money. Buy it on credit, pay for it with future money. Future money may not be available in the future. Opportunity may disappear. If you can't afford it now, forget it. Learn the value of a dollar and save. Damn, am I talking to the past, or what? I'm talking to the future, too. Too bad I can't afford to save. Anyway, I just thought the juxtaposition of current world conditions and video sales might explain why I think when the Almighty shows up she might be a little bitchy. Half a billion dollars. I wish I could afford that game and see what I'm missing.
At the same time Myamar loses 100 thousand plus people in a cyclone (hurricane), and a good portion of Asia's rice crop is destroyed or threatened, unfotunately and coincidently, the week after experts predict world food shortages. Yet there is still $500,000,000 paid for this one new video game in 3 and a 1/2 days worth of sales. I underline this point because I wonder what the total game sales will in a week, month, year?
Now, I'm no Reverend Wright, and I won't claim to know anything about the divine plan, or how God really thinks. I'm not even going to claim there is a GOD, but supposing there is... then what the hell would you guess the Almighty is going to think upon her appraisal of the current state of affairs: "Things can't be that damn bad" or "How bad can it get"? Might depend on how many shares of Microsoft God owns.
Half a billion in retail sales has to be good for the stimulus package. Let me do a little research on that game and see if the money is going to China....
And just back from Google... Xbox is Microsoft. There you are; the rich get richer. And using theological criteria of appraisal for logic, God has to own a piece of Microsoft, otherwise no way in hell they could have that kind of success. Anyway, if the world falls apart, Americans don't think they care. They're stealing cars on the computer, and getting life's lessons from the perverted wisdom of Wall Street, graphic designers and the thrills of cyberspace.
What are life's lessons? I would guess for every life they are different. In America, where the vast majority of the now living population did not experience the Great Depression, where Baby Boomers have lived their entire lives in what, for the most part, was the expanding economy of the richest nation on earth, the lessons of life already learned may not apply to the world of the future. A world with a shrinking economy and the comforts and luxuries of yesteryear gone.
In a shrinking world, new lessons of life may be necessary to learn and, for Americans, it won't be easy. A world where property depreciates and today's pleasures can't be paid for with tommorrow's equity. How the hell are Americans going to pay for all those $35K SUVs, and put gas into them all $5 a gallon, if we can't refinance our homes every 3 to 5 years? That's why SUV sales are down in the billions and my Jeep has 235 thousand miles. Lessons learned.
A world where people go hungry. Everybody I know that has ever 'starved', afterward they could never be rich enough. Being hungry for food to sustain life, survive, must leave a long and lasting impression/fear. Today's native born Americans, for the most part, have never known real hunger. And the mass production of food depends on fuel and petrol chemicals and the weather. Absurd, Americans hungry! Not in our lifetimes. Hopefully.
Furthermore, in America (in our lifetimes) opportunity has always been available. Why save, just go make more money. Buy it on credit, pay for it with future money. Future money may not be available in the future. Opportunity may disappear. If you can't afford it now, forget it. Learn the value of a dollar and save. Damn, am I talking to the past, or what? I'm talking to the future, too. Too bad I can't afford to save. Anyway, I just thought the juxtaposition of current world conditions and video sales might explain why I think when the Almighty shows up she might be a little bitchy. Half a billion dollars. I wish I could afford that game and see what I'm missing.
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