After expressing interest, I humbly accepted the opportunity to blog for Amerika.org. By now, it's obvious that I also blog as Frank Azzurro on Corrupt.org and even have my own separate Family & Parenting blog, of which I'm also grateful to editor Alex Birch for the opportunity.
Amerika.org is less satire and more along the lines of ANUS.com; one could call it "Nihilism Light".
Along with the opportunity to create new content for Amerika.org, I also exported many of my blog posts from this blog over to the WordPress format at Amerika.org. So you can find some of my more serious material from this blog, over at Amerika.org now. I will continue to Family & Parenting blog at Corrupt.org, and may occasionally post on here when the rare post that doesn't fit either site needs a home.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
George Sodini's Diary
The story of George Sodini is sad but fascinating. I agree that memoirs and personal diaries of the supposedly deranged should not be removed from the web (as was done by Mr. Sodini's web host, apparently, though the page is now up again) simply because he's a moron who ended up randomly killing a bunch of people. He lived his life in silent torture, cursing the world around him, yet still able to muster up good social graces, a good job, and maintain an appearance of calm servitude to the society around him. Kind of like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, actually, when you read the whole thing - particularly the ending.
His own words say to spread the word and that this can be re-published freely. And for those of you who don't know, Sodini is the guy who gunned down a bunch of people at a Pittsburgh-area gym on August 4th, 2009. Of course, the mainstream news sites won't report much about this journal because they don't want to bring attention to the fact that our society is sick, valueless, and cultureless; that we're nothing more than oversocialized beasts who would sell our own mothers down the river for a little money, and that people like George Sodini may not do what they do if our values as a society were different.
Does this excuse what he did? Absolutely not. I wouldn't want my wife in that gym any more than any of you would, if only because I know in my heart that our values as a family make sense to us, and we live them accordingly with an eye toward making the world a better place, and maybe even making our mark on civilization in the future such that it becomes better. But even if we simply produce one or two children who aim to do the same thing, that's fine with us.
Sodini was a confused creature, apparently believing that getting laid was going to solve the "problem" of being worth $250K with no one to share it with. Had he entered into a relationship with a woman and been unhappy after a few months, maybe he wouldn't have entered into a massive rampage on an unsuspecting gym, but only become what he despised in the first place: a guy with money but nothing of real value, in a dead end relationship, thinking falsely that someone to come home to every night - no matter who - was going to make him happy.
George Sodini
Age 48.
DOB 9/30/1960
DOD 8/4/2009
5-10, 155 lbs.
Never married.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
Why do this?? To young girls? Just read below. I kept a running log that includes my thoughts and actions, after I saw this project was going to drag on.
November 5, 2008:
Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome. This particular one got so much attention and I was just curious. Not like I give a flying fcuk who won, since this exit plan was already planned. Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man. Good! In light of this I got ideas outside of Obama's plans for the economy and such. Here it is: Every black man should get a young white girl hoe to hone up on. Kinda a reverse indentured servitude thing. Long ago, many a older white male landowner had a young Negro wench girl for his desires. Bout' time tables are turned on that shit. Besides, dem young white hoez dig da bruthrs! LOL. More so than they dig the white dudes! Every daddy know when he sends his little girl to college, she be bangin a bruthr real good. I saw it. "Not my little girl", daddy says! (Yeah right!!) Black dudes have thier choice of best white hoez. You do the math, there are enough young white so all the brothers can each have one for 3 or 6 months or so.
December 22, 2008:
Time is moving along. Planned to have this done already. I will just keep a running log here as time passes. Many of the young girls here look so beautiful as to not be human, very edible. After joining this gym, started lifting weights and like it. Much info about weight programs, diet etc on the web. Or anything for that matter. Instead of TV I can Google for hours to relax. TV and most movies are dull.
December 24, 2008:
Moving into Christmas again. No girlfriend since 1984, last Christmas with Pam was in 1983. Who knows why. I am not ugly or too weird. No sex since July 1990 either (I was 29). No shit! Over eighteen years ago. And did it maybe only 50-75 times in my life. Getting to think that a woman now would just, uh, get in the way of things. Isolated. I have extra money and enjoy traveling, too, wtih my 25-30 days of vacation. LA was the best! But going alone is not too fun. Invited to a party on Christmas day tomorrow. Seems about 15-25 people will actually show. I like her parties; I can meet new people and talk. Got the next 8 days off. I should have exit plan done and practiced by then. I know nothing will change, no matter how hard I try or what goals I set.
December 28, 2008:
Glad I stayed around. All these days off are great. I will shoot for Tuesday, January 6, 2009, at maybe 8:15. I have list of to-do items to make.
December 29, 2008:
Just got back from tanning, been doing this for a while. No gym today, my elbow is sore again. I actually look good. I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne - yet 30 million women rejected me - over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it. Thirty million is my rough guesstimate of how many desirable single women there are. A man needs a woman for confidence. He gets a boost on the job, career, with other men, and everywhere else when he knows inside he has someone to spend the night with and who is also a friend. This type of life I see is a closed world with me specifically and totally excluded. Every other guy does this successfully to a degree. Flying solo for many years is a destroyer. Yet many people say I am easy to get along with, etc. Looking back, I owe nothing to desirable females who ask for anything, except for basic courtesy - usually. Looking back over everything, what bothers me most is the inability to work towards whatever change I choose.
December 30, 2008:
While driving I radio surfed to a talk show. The caller was a 30ish black man who was describing the despair in certain black communities. According to him, life is cheap there because you are going to die anyway when you get old. It is the quality of life that is important, he said. If you know the past 40 years were crappy, why live another 30 crappy years then die? His point was they engage in dangerous behavior which tends to shorten the lifespans, to die now and avoid the next 30 crappy years, using my example. The host got sarcastic and ended the call instead of trying understanding his point. Agreement wasn't necesary. I put music back on. But it was an interesting, and useful point for me to hear.
December 31, 2008:
My anger and rage is largely gone since I began lifting weights. Lifting drains me but I still have energy. Somebody else suggested running but that did not help me. I guess strenuous exercise is necesary for a man. So I just learned that now at 48. Maybe 30 years later than I would have liked. My dad never (not once) talked to me or asked about my life's details and tell me what he knew. He was just a useless sperm doner. Don't know why, find it fun talking to young kids when I visit someone. Brother was actually counter-productive and would try to embarase me or discourage my efferts when persuing things, esp girls early on (teen years). Useless bully. Result is I am learning basics by trial and error in my 40s, followed by discuragement. Seems odd, but thats true. Writing all this is helping me justify my plan and to see the futility of continuing. Too embarassed to tell anyone this, at almost 50 one is expected to just know these things.I hope it doesn't snow on Tuesday. Just thought of that. The crowd will be thin so I would postpone. Shit!
Now that I am on the topic of family and people I know, I might as well make a summary of sorts to show where things stand. This is New Years Eve I have time, no date tonight of course, so:
Honorable mention:
Tetelestai Church in Pittsburgh, PA - "Be Ye Holy, even as I have been Ye holy! Thus saith the lord thy God!", as pastor Rick Knapp would proclaim. Holy shit, religion is a waste. But this guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven. Ask him. Call him at [] If no answer there, he should still live at []. In any case, guilt and fear kept me there 13 long years until Nov 2006. I think his crap did the most damage. Their web site: http://www.tetelestai.org/.
Mum - The Central Boss. []. Don't piss her off or she will be mad and vindictive for years. She actually thinks she's normal. Very dominant. Her way and only her way with no flexibility toward everyone in the household. A power and control thing. People outside the immediate family like her. Why are people vicious with their closest ones? She is the Boss above all other Bosses.
Michael Sodini - A Boss, my brother (Mike Sodini) [] - Always the big bully, twice the size of most others. When he bullied or harassed someone, it was the other person who "deserved it". It was always about him. Way to self absorbed, too. Still is. Used to like to embarrass guys in front of their girlfriends. Lots of other shit. Kind of guy you actually loved to hate. The biggest, most self-centered jagoff I know. He took those bullying "skills" into the business world and is doing good financially. He is a big wheel only in his mind. Most people can see thru all his manipulation. He calls only when he wants something.
Sherry - sister - More of a victim than anything. Copes by exercising much control over her adult children. We used to be close until her control of L & D caused a conflict. Never the same after.
David - neph, sis's son (girlfriend Mallory Squires). Good young guy, though.
Lisa - niece, sis's daught. Attractive, smart, emotional - all good YW qualities.
Idiots:
Andy Pulkowski - I have been in barrooms and church groups. The worst people by far are the religious types. Especially a right-wing, stiff-faced fundie like Andy. A condescending, demeaning, passive-aggresive person. Frigid, rigid, linear and totally inflexible. Being a very serious person, he cannot hide his frown-lined face. He better not try to smile; lest his face might crack. I knew children of parents who grew up in strict religious homes. Religion has a certain stink to it of guilt, shame, fear, and that moral standard that always contradicts the natural tendencies and desires of a person. Therin lies the conflict. Young person cannot experiment with things to decide on their own and establish their own parameters. So they tend to cut loose and really rebel much worse than the average young person. Ma and Pa never know what goes on. They easily BS their parents because they want to believe their little one is an angel. Andy has a young daughter Bethany Pulkowski away at college, High Point University. I saw her picture on his desk. She's your basic, attractive, young girl. Please reread my entry made on Nov 5th. That's only one thing she can do. You Andy types out there need to further strengthen your strict resolve and do more of the same thing! Because those girls were great when I recall my college years! She is someone's (or many guy's) little hoe now, I am sure.Another point about andy. How can someone be cold, vicious, sarcastic and generally nasty ALL THE TIME and then make the claim about their church life and how good they are? Total hypocritical idiots.
That's all for now. That felt good.
Let's continue...
January 5, 2009:
Was at the gym to lift. Very crowded. Tomorrow should be good. There is a woman there that gives me a certain look every time I am there. I decided to walk over and make a comment about the crowds but she left when I finished the exercise. Better that I do not get sidetracked from tomorrow's plan anyways. Life is just playing games. One or two dates with her, then the end. No matter how many changes I try to make, things stay the same. Every evening I am alone, and then go to bed alone. Young women were brutal when I was younger, now they aren't as much, probably because they just see me just as another old man.I see twenty something couples everywhere. I see a twenty something guy with a nice twentyish young women. I think those years slipped right by for me. Why should I continue another 20+ years alone? I will just work, come home, eat, maybe do something, then go to bed (alone) for the next day of the same thing. This is the Auschwitz Syndrome, to be in serious pain so long one thinks it is normal. I cannot wait for tomorrow!
January 6, 2009:
I can do this. Leaving work today, I felt like a zombie - just going thru the motions. Get on the bus, get the car, drive home.....My mind is screwed up anymore, I can't concentrate at work or think at all.This log is not detailed. It is only for confidence to do this. The future holds even less than what I have today.It is 6:40pm, about hour and a half to go. God have mercy. I wish life could be better for all and the crazy world can somehow run smoother. I wish I had answers. Bye.
It is 8:45PM: I chickened out! Shit! I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!
April 24, 2009:
Early last month, we had our second general layoff. I survived. First one was in November. When I began 10 years ago, that used to be a nice place to work. I understand the need to reduce staff when times sour, but this is out of proportion to the economic problems at this time. The economy is shrinking by about 4-5%. They decided not to pay Christmas bonus - for staff that amounts to about 8% of yearly pay. Well, OK. Plus no yearly "merit" raise, another 3.5%. That totals to about 11% cut. Plus two layoffs of 5% staff in each case. Do the math. I know this firm is using this downturn as an excuse to take advanage of a bad situation and kill jobs UNNECESSARILY. The second layoff people who actually did work were let go. We all need to pick up the slack so the company can cut beyond what is necesary. Wasn't going to mention it, because of all this shit, it is K&L Gates, the large law firm headquartered here in Pittsburgh. Just call it K&L Gates Corporation. Most people there are OK and I would never have a shoot 'em up there. They paid me for 10 years, so far!
I predict I won't survive the next layoff. That is when there is no point to continue. Right now, life is bearable and I can get by indefinitely. Something bad must happen. The paycheck is all I have left. The future holds nothing for me. Twenty five years of nothing fun. I never even spent one weekend with a girl in my life, even at my own place. Also unlikely to find another similar job. I guess then is when I take care of things. I don't have kids, close friends or anything. Just me here. If you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.
I enjoy writing these entries, I have no plans to go back and edit or even read most stuff already written. If you get bored, just click that "x" at the top, right corner of your browser. Bye.
May 4, 2009:I was so eager to do this last year. The big problem on my mind now is that my job will end soon. One project is being transistioned to another. The other one I am solely responsible, but is being fast tracked to production. I estimate maybe a month. I am not ready for the job market. I am ok what I do, a .NET software developer. Not at the top of the class, but I do a good job. I survived two general layoffs and other little layoffs they are having but keeping quiet about. I hear things.
The problem is I feel too good now to do this but too bad to enjoy life. I know I will never enjoy life. This is an over 30 year trend. Some people are happy, some are miserable. It is difficult to live almost continuously feeling an undercurrent of fear, worry, discontentment and helplessness. I can talk and joke around and sound happy but under it all is something different that seems unchangable and a permanent part of my being. I need to realize the details of what I never accomplished in life and to be convinced the future is merely a continuation of the past - WHICH IT ALWAYS has been. I am making a list of items that will provide motivation to do the exit plan, it won't be published. I always had hope that maybe things will improve especially if I make big attempts to change my life. I made many big changes in the past two years but everything is still the same. Life is over. Even though I look good, dress well, well groomed - nails, teeth, hair, etc. Who knows.
What is it like to be dead? I always think I am forgetting something, that's one reason I postponed. Similar to when you leave to get in your car to go somewhere - you hesitate with a thought: "what am I forgetting?". In this case, I cannot make a return trip!
I like to write and talk. Ironic because I haven't met anybody recently (past 30 years) who I want to be close friends with OR who want to be close friends with me. I was always open to suggestions to what I am doing wrong, no brother or father (mine are useless) or close friend to nudge me and give it bluntly yet tactfully wtf I am doing wrong. A personal coach or someone who knows what he is doing would be perfect. Money is highly secondary for a solution.
May 5, 2009:
To pull the exit plan off, it popped into my mind to just use some booze. I want to do this before I get laid off, for reasons not worth mentioning but don't seem to have the balls. After the gym, I stopped at Shop N Save and got a fifth of vodka and a small bottle of Jack Daniels. I haven't had a drink since September 1, 1988, just over 20 years. It doesn't matter now, I need to use it to take the edge off of carrying out the exit plan. I will be taking some every now and then to get used to it and see if the alcohol effects will embolden me. Weed would be fun to try again. I don't know who has any. Life is over, who cares? I just need to use common sense, can't drink and drive, etc. This idea just hit me at a point in time and I immediately acted on it. Same thing happened when I decided to go back to Pitt full time, first day was Monday, May 8, 1989, and to buy the house that closed on Friday, September 30, 1996, to name two examples I remember so well.
The list idea yesterday is working. I carry it in my wallet and add to it. I am feeling to good to do carry this out, but too bad to enjoy ANYTHING. My life's dilema.
May 6, 2009:
I started the JD. About one ounce with some tea to get me started. No big deal.
May 7, 2009:
Went to the gym and did mostly cardio. My heart rate was 117 just from walking on the treadmill at 3.4. This should be done a few times a week for maybe 15 mins or so to keep the heart active. I sprinted a few times to push the limits.
May 18, 2009:
I actually had a date today. It was with a woman I met on the bus in March. We got together at Two PPG Place for lunch. The last date for me was May 1, 2008. Women just don't like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one. Not one of them finds me attractive. I am looking at The List I made from my May 4th idea. I forgot about that for several days. That tells me where I stand. These problems have gotten worse over a 30 year period. I need to expect nothing from me or other people. All through the years I thought we had the ability to change ourselves - I guess that is incorrect. Looking at The List makes me realize how TOTALLY ALONE, a deeper word is ISOLATED, I am from all else. I no longer have any expectations of myself. I have no options because I cannot work toward and achieve even the smallest goals. That is, ABOVE ALL, what bothers me the most. Not to be able to work towards what I want in my life. I believe I am deserve that. I read recently it is called "self efficacy", but who knows. Is that more psychobable?
May 25, 2009:
I was invited to a picnic, and I went. An older woman there, out of the blue, asked if I liked high school. Then quickly asked if I was picked on very much. Intersting why she would ask that. But, thanks, I already know what the problem is, but a solution eludes me.
May 29, 2009:
Another lonely Friday night, I'm done. This is too much.
June 2, 2009:
Some people I was talking with believed I date a lot and get around with women. They think this because I showed an email I got from a hot woman to the department gossip, but it didn't work out. All this is funny. Actually, I haven't had sex since I was 29 years old, 19 years ago. That's true.
June 5, 2009:
I was reading several posts on different forums and it seems many teenage girls have sex frequently. One 16 year old does it usually three times a day with her boyfriend. So, err, after a month of that, this little hoe has had more sex than ME in my LIFE, and I am 48. One more reason. Thanks for nada, bitches! Bye.
July 4, 2009:
Wow, already late evening. I stayed in all day. Can't believe there was NOTHING to do today. No parties or picnics. WTF. No need to leave now.
July 20, 2009:
Been a long time since last write. Everything still sucks. But I got a promotion and a raise, even in this shitty Obama ecomomy. No more grunt programming. Go figure! New boss is great. He tactfully says when you did something wrong or complements on good things. Never confused with him. But that is NOT what I want in life. I guess some of us were simply meant to walk a lonely path. I have slept alone for over 20 years. Last time I slept all night with a girlfriend it was 1982. Proof I am a total malfunction. Girls and women don't even give me a second look ANYWHERE. There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO goddam person will tell me what it is. Every person just wants to be fucking nice and say nice things to me. Flattery. Oh yeah, I am sure you can get a date anytime. You look good, etc. Pussies. Awwww, wait. I can just start being self-righteous and say I live a good, clean life. I am holy, that's all Rick Knapp stuff. Hear that you mother fucker: I Am Just Good!
July 23, 2009:
Wow!!
I just looked out my front window and saw a beautiful college-age girl leave Bob Fox's house, across the street. I guess he got a good lay today. College girls are hoez. I masturbate. Frequently. He is about 45 years old. She was a long haired, hot little hottie with a beautiful bod. I masturbate. Frequently. Some were simply meant to walk a lonely path in life. I don't usually look out, but just happened to notice. Holy fuck. I have masturbated since age 13. Thanks, mum and brother (by blood alone). And dad, old man, for TOTALLY ignoring me through the years. All of you DEEPLY helped me be this way.
I wish I can go back to 1975 and fix things. Awe, that wont work, big BULLY BROTHER would assert his bull shit. He was twice my size. He never messed with guys bigger than 5'10, or so. He is a PUSSY at heart. Remember, Michael is my brother (we have common parents, that's all) is still a BOSS. Repetition only for emphasis: HE IS ONLY A BULLY, even at 50ish! Never forget that! Because he exudes confidence. People believe bull shit if delivered WITH CONFIDENCE.
Get it??
On the same thought, things occured to me today. Michael NEVER had an attractive girlfriend. Debbie, Barb, Kim, ... then I lost track. Not to say I had any (execpt Pam, who was about a 7.25). He married a Chinese-descent, petite woman with no body, no ass, no chest and no personality. She never laughs or smiles, neither does he. But she is highly intelligent and an excellent cook. I can testify to that! She home bakes her own DELICIOUS wheat bread! But who cares about that type of small bull crap? Mike even mentioned when we were visiting dad that "she's not very attractive".
I don't know where I am going with this. I am getting tired, feels good to write and get it all out.
On still another thought, I had 20+ years of sobriety and achieved nothing about friendships, girlfriends, guys, etc. Zilch. What a waste.
Bye, for today.
August 2, 2009:
The biggest problem of all is not having relationships or friends, but not being able to achieve and acquire what I desire in those or many other areas. Everthing stays the same regardless of the effert I put in. If I had control over my life then I would be happier. But for about the past 30 years, I have not
August 3, 2009:
I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.
Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY. Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out. Lets see how this new approach works.
Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.
I will try not to add anymore entries because this computer clicking distracts me.
Also, any of the "Practice Papers" left on my coffee table I used or the notes in my gym bag can be published freely. I will not be embarased, because, well, I will be dead. Some people like to study that stuff. Maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.
Miscellaneous:
1. Probably 99% of the people who know me well don't even think I was this crazy. Told by at least 100 girls/women over the years I was a "nice guy". Not kidding.
2. Lee Ann Valdiserri had my baby in early 1991. Haven't seen her since she was about four months into it. I knew her sister, Chris, from high school.
3. Net worth slightly more than $250K, (after all debt) as of end of 2008.
4. Death Lives!
© 2009 George Sodini
This should not be taken off the web. It is obviously my view and opinion.Reproduce this as you wish, in its entirity.
**Copy this to usenet/newsgroups where my voice will speak forever!**
Don't modify it, you can correct my spelling errors, I used WordPad. Unless the names are required legally to be blotted out, then fine. Thanks.
[Following is Sodini's secret hidden message which was at the bottom of the page, but commented out in the HTML:]
At the gym I saw a woman I like. I see her at the park and ride sometimes, so she isn't a stranger. Occationaly she makes good eye contact and smiles, etc. She is maybe 40ish, and attractive to me. I made brief conversation to her and a younger woman she was with today. To get a friend like her (and for night time action) I would cancel this plan, or put on hold, at least for a while.
(links to this diary, as long as they stay active: Click here and here.)
His own words say to spread the word and that this can be re-published freely. And for those of you who don't know, Sodini is the guy who gunned down a bunch of people at a Pittsburgh-area gym on August 4th, 2009. Of course, the mainstream news sites won't report much about this journal because they don't want to bring attention to the fact that our society is sick, valueless, and cultureless; that we're nothing more than oversocialized beasts who would sell our own mothers down the river for a little money, and that people like George Sodini may not do what they do if our values as a society were different.
Does this excuse what he did? Absolutely not. I wouldn't want my wife in that gym any more than any of you would, if only because I know in my heart that our values as a family make sense to us, and we live them accordingly with an eye toward making the world a better place, and maybe even making our mark on civilization in the future such that it becomes better. But even if we simply produce one or two children who aim to do the same thing, that's fine with us.
Sodini was a confused creature, apparently believing that getting laid was going to solve the "problem" of being worth $250K with no one to share it with. Had he entered into a relationship with a woman and been unhappy after a few months, maybe he wouldn't have entered into a massive rampage on an unsuspecting gym, but only become what he despised in the first place: a guy with money but nothing of real value, in a dead end relationship, thinking falsely that someone to come home to every night - no matter who - was going to make him happy.
George Sodini
Age 48.
DOB 9/30/1960
DOD 8/4/2009
5-10, 155 lbs.
Never married.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
Why do this?? To young girls? Just read below. I kept a running log that includes my thoughts and actions, after I saw this project was going to drag on.
November 5, 2008:
Planned to do this in the summer but figure to stick around to see the election outcome. This particular one got so much attention and I was just curious. Not like I give a flying fcuk who won, since this exit plan was already planned. Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man. Good! In light of this I got ideas outside of Obama's plans for the economy and such. Here it is: Every black man should get a young white girl hoe to hone up on. Kinda a reverse indentured servitude thing. Long ago, many a older white male landowner had a young Negro wench girl for his desires. Bout' time tables are turned on that shit. Besides, dem young white hoez dig da bruthrs! LOL. More so than they dig the white dudes! Every daddy know when he sends his little girl to college, she be bangin a bruthr real good. I saw it. "Not my little girl", daddy says! (Yeah right!!) Black dudes have thier choice of best white hoez. You do the math, there are enough young white so all the brothers can each have one for 3 or 6 months or so.
December 22, 2008:
Time is moving along. Planned to have this done already. I will just keep a running log here as time passes. Many of the young girls here look so beautiful as to not be human, very edible. After joining this gym, started lifting weights and like it. Much info about weight programs, diet etc on the web. Or anything for that matter. Instead of TV I can Google for hours to relax. TV and most movies are dull.
December 24, 2008:
Moving into Christmas again. No girlfriend since 1984, last Christmas with Pam was in 1983. Who knows why. I am not ugly or too weird. No sex since July 1990 either (I was 29). No shit! Over eighteen years ago. And did it maybe only 50-75 times in my life. Getting to think that a woman now would just, uh, get in the way of things. Isolated. I have extra money and enjoy traveling, too, wtih my 25-30 days of vacation. LA was the best! But going alone is not too fun. Invited to a party on Christmas day tomorrow. Seems about 15-25 people will actually show. I like her parties; I can meet new people and talk. Got the next 8 days off. I should have exit plan done and practiced by then. I know nothing will change, no matter how hard I try or what goals I set.
December 28, 2008:
Glad I stayed around. All these days off are great. I will shoot for Tuesday, January 6, 2009, at maybe 8:15. I have list of to-do items to make.
December 29, 2008:
Just got back from tanning, been doing this for a while. No gym today, my elbow is sore again. I actually look good. I dress good, am clean-shaven, bathe, touch of cologne - yet 30 million women rejected me - over an 18 or 25-year period. That is how I see it. Thirty million is my rough guesstimate of how many desirable single women there are. A man needs a woman for confidence. He gets a boost on the job, career, with other men, and everywhere else when he knows inside he has someone to spend the night with and who is also a friend. This type of life I see is a closed world with me specifically and totally excluded. Every other guy does this successfully to a degree. Flying solo for many years is a destroyer. Yet many people say I am easy to get along with, etc. Looking back, I owe nothing to desirable females who ask for anything, except for basic courtesy - usually. Looking back over everything, what bothers me most is the inability to work towards whatever change I choose.
December 30, 2008:
While driving I radio surfed to a talk show. The caller was a 30ish black man who was describing the despair in certain black communities. According to him, life is cheap there because you are going to die anyway when you get old. It is the quality of life that is important, he said. If you know the past 40 years were crappy, why live another 30 crappy years then die? His point was they engage in dangerous behavior which tends to shorten the lifespans, to die now and avoid the next 30 crappy years, using my example. The host got sarcastic and ended the call instead of trying understanding his point. Agreement wasn't necesary. I put music back on. But it was an interesting, and useful point for me to hear.
December 31, 2008:
My anger and rage is largely gone since I began lifting weights. Lifting drains me but I still have energy. Somebody else suggested running but that did not help me. I guess strenuous exercise is necesary for a man. So I just learned that now at 48. Maybe 30 years later than I would have liked. My dad never (not once) talked to me or asked about my life's details and tell me what he knew. He was just a useless sperm doner. Don't know why, find it fun talking to young kids when I visit someone. Brother was actually counter-productive and would try to embarase me or discourage my efferts when persuing things, esp girls early on (teen years). Useless bully. Result is I am learning basics by trial and error in my 40s, followed by discuragement. Seems odd, but thats true. Writing all this is helping me justify my plan and to see the futility of continuing. Too embarassed to tell anyone this, at almost 50 one is expected to just know these things.I hope it doesn't snow on Tuesday. Just thought of that. The crowd will be thin so I would postpone. Shit!
Now that I am on the topic of family and people I know, I might as well make a summary of sorts to show where things stand. This is New Years Eve I have time, no date tonight of course, so:
Honorable mention:
Tetelestai Church in Pittsburgh, PA - "Be Ye Holy, even as I have been Ye holy! Thus saith the lord thy God!", as pastor Rick Knapp would proclaim. Holy shit, religion is a waste. But this guy teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven. Ask him. Call him at [] If no answer there, he should still live at []. In any case, guilt and fear kept me there 13 long years until Nov 2006. I think his crap did the most damage. Their web site: http://www.tetelestai.org/.
Mum - The Central Boss. []. Don't piss her off or she will be mad and vindictive for years. She actually thinks she's normal. Very dominant. Her way and only her way with no flexibility toward everyone in the household. A power and control thing. People outside the immediate family like her. Why are people vicious with their closest ones? She is the Boss above all other Bosses.
Michael Sodini - A Boss, my brother (Mike Sodini) [] - Always the big bully, twice the size of most others. When he bullied or harassed someone, it was the other person who "deserved it". It was always about him. Way to self absorbed, too. Still is. Used to like to embarrass guys in front of their girlfriends. Lots of other shit. Kind of guy you actually loved to hate. The biggest, most self-centered jagoff I know. He took those bullying "skills" into the business world and is doing good financially. He is a big wheel only in his mind. Most people can see thru all his manipulation. He calls only when he wants something.
Sherry - sister - More of a victim than anything. Copes by exercising much control over her adult children. We used to be close until her control of L & D caused a conflict. Never the same after.
David - neph, sis's son (girlfriend Mallory Squires). Good young guy, though.
Lisa - niece, sis's daught. Attractive, smart, emotional - all good YW qualities.
Idiots:
Andy Pulkowski - I have been in barrooms and church groups. The worst people by far are the religious types. Especially a right-wing, stiff-faced fundie like Andy. A condescending, demeaning, passive-aggresive person. Frigid, rigid, linear and totally inflexible. Being a very serious person, he cannot hide his frown-lined face. He better not try to smile; lest his face might crack. I knew children of parents who grew up in strict religious homes. Religion has a certain stink to it of guilt, shame, fear, and that moral standard that always contradicts the natural tendencies and desires of a person. Therin lies the conflict. Young person cannot experiment with things to decide on their own and establish their own parameters. So they tend to cut loose and really rebel much worse than the average young person. Ma and Pa never know what goes on. They easily BS their parents because they want to believe their little one is an angel. Andy has a young daughter Bethany Pulkowski away at college, High Point University. I saw her picture on his desk. She's your basic, attractive, young girl. Please reread my entry made on Nov 5th. That's only one thing she can do. You Andy types out there need to further strengthen your strict resolve and do more of the same thing! Because those girls were great when I recall my college years! She is someone's (or many guy's) little hoe now, I am sure.Another point about andy. How can someone be cold, vicious, sarcastic and generally nasty ALL THE TIME and then make the claim about their church life and how good they are? Total hypocritical idiots.
That's all for now. That felt good.
Let's continue...
January 5, 2009:
Was at the gym to lift. Very crowded. Tomorrow should be good. There is a woman there that gives me a certain look every time I am there. I decided to walk over and make a comment about the crowds but she left when I finished the exercise. Better that I do not get sidetracked from tomorrow's plan anyways. Life is just playing games. One or two dates with her, then the end. No matter how many changes I try to make, things stay the same. Every evening I am alone, and then go to bed alone. Young women were brutal when I was younger, now they aren't as much, probably because they just see me just as another old man.I see twenty something couples everywhere. I see a twenty something guy with a nice twentyish young women. I think those years slipped right by for me. Why should I continue another 20+ years alone? I will just work, come home, eat, maybe do something, then go to bed (alone) for the next day of the same thing. This is the Auschwitz Syndrome, to be in serious pain so long one thinks it is normal. I cannot wait for tomorrow!
January 6, 2009:
I can do this. Leaving work today, I felt like a zombie - just going thru the motions. Get on the bus, get the car, drive home.....My mind is screwed up anymore, I can't concentrate at work or think at all.This log is not detailed. It is only for confidence to do this. The future holds even less than what I have today.It is 6:40pm, about hour and a half to go. God have mercy. I wish life could be better for all and the crazy world can somehow run smoother. I wish I had answers. Bye.
It is 8:45PM: I chickened out! Shit! I brought the loaded guns, everything. Hell!
April 24, 2009:
Early last month, we had our second general layoff. I survived. First one was in November. When I began 10 years ago, that used to be a nice place to work. I understand the need to reduce staff when times sour, but this is out of proportion to the economic problems at this time. The economy is shrinking by about 4-5%. They decided not to pay Christmas bonus - for staff that amounts to about 8% of yearly pay. Well, OK. Plus no yearly "merit" raise, another 3.5%. That totals to about 11% cut. Plus two layoffs of 5% staff in each case. Do the math. I know this firm is using this downturn as an excuse to take advanage of a bad situation and kill jobs UNNECESSARILY. The second layoff people who actually did work were let go. We all need to pick up the slack so the company can cut beyond what is necesary. Wasn't going to mention it, because of all this shit, it is K&L Gates, the large law firm headquartered here in Pittsburgh. Just call it K&L Gates Corporation. Most people there are OK and I would never have a shoot 'em up there. They paid me for 10 years, so far!
I predict I won't survive the next layoff. That is when there is no point to continue. Right now, life is bearable and I can get by indefinitely. Something bad must happen. The paycheck is all I have left. The future holds nothing for me. Twenty five years of nothing fun. I never even spent one weekend with a girl in my life, even at my own place. Also unlikely to find another similar job. I guess then is when I take care of things. I don't have kids, close friends or anything. Just me here. If you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.
I enjoy writing these entries, I have no plans to go back and edit or even read most stuff already written. If you get bored, just click that "x" at the top, right corner of your browser. Bye.
May 4, 2009:I was so eager to do this last year. The big problem on my mind now is that my job will end soon. One project is being transistioned to another. The other one I am solely responsible, but is being fast tracked to production. I estimate maybe a month. I am not ready for the job market. I am ok what I do, a .NET software developer. Not at the top of the class, but I do a good job. I survived two general layoffs and other little layoffs they are having but keeping quiet about. I hear things.
The problem is I feel too good now to do this but too bad to enjoy life. I know I will never enjoy life. This is an over 30 year trend. Some people are happy, some are miserable. It is difficult to live almost continuously feeling an undercurrent of fear, worry, discontentment and helplessness. I can talk and joke around and sound happy but under it all is something different that seems unchangable and a permanent part of my being. I need to realize the details of what I never accomplished in life and to be convinced the future is merely a continuation of the past - WHICH IT ALWAYS has been. I am making a list of items that will provide motivation to do the exit plan, it won't be published. I always had hope that maybe things will improve especially if I make big attempts to change my life. I made many big changes in the past two years but everything is still the same. Life is over. Even though I look good, dress well, well groomed - nails, teeth, hair, etc. Who knows.
What is it like to be dead? I always think I am forgetting something, that's one reason I postponed. Similar to when you leave to get in your car to go somewhere - you hesitate with a thought: "what am I forgetting?". In this case, I cannot make a return trip!
I like to write and talk. Ironic because I haven't met anybody recently (past 30 years) who I want to be close friends with OR who want to be close friends with me. I was always open to suggestions to what I am doing wrong, no brother or father (mine are useless) or close friend to nudge me and give it bluntly yet tactfully wtf I am doing wrong. A personal coach or someone who knows what he is doing would be perfect. Money is highly secondary for a solution.
May 5, 2009:
To pull the exit plan off, it popped into my mind to just use some booze. I want to do this before I get laid off, for reasons not worth mentioning but don't seem to have the balls. After the gym, I stopped at Shop N Save and got a fifth of vodka and a small bottle of Jack Daniels. I haven't had a drink since September 1, 1988, just over 20 years. It doesn't matter now, I need to use it to take the edge off of carrying out the exit plan. I will be taking some every now and then to get used to it and see if the alcohol effects will embolden me. Weed would be fun to try again. I don't know who has any. Life is over, who cares? I just need to use common sense, can't drink and drive, etc. This idea just hit me at a point in time and I immediately acted on it. Same thing happened when I decided to go back to Pitt full time, first day was Monday, May 8, 1989, and to buy the house that closed on Friday, September 30, 1996, to name two examples I remember so well.
The list idea yesterday is working. I carry it in my wallet and add to it. I am feeling to good to do carry this out, but too bad to enjoy ANYTHING. My life's dilema.
May 6, 2009:
I started the JD. About one ounce with some tea to get me started. No big deal.
May 7, 2009:
Went to the gym and did mostly cardio. My heart rate was 117 just from walking on the treadmill at 3.4. This should be done a few times a week for maybe 15 mins or so to keep the heart active. I sprinted a few times to push the limits.
May 18, 2009:
I actually had a date today. It was with a woman I met on the bus in March. We got together at Two PPG Place for lunch. The last date for me was May 1, 2008. Women just don't like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one. Not one of them finds me attractive. I am looking at The List I made from my May 4th idea. I forgot about that for several days. That tells me where I stand. These problems have gotten worse over a 30 year period. I need to expect nothing from me or other people. All through the years I thought we had the ability to change ourselves - I guess that is incorrect. Looking at The List makes me realize how TOTALLY ALONE, a deeper word is ISOLATED, I am from all else. I no longer have any expectations of myself. I have no options because I cannot work toward and achieve even the smallest goals. That is, ABOVE ALL, what bothers me the most. Not to be able to work towards what I want in my life. I believe I am deserve that. I read recently it is called "self efficacy", but who knows. Is that more psychobable?
May 25, 2009:
I was invited to a picnic, and I went. An older woman there, out of the blue, asked if I liked high school. Then quickly asked if I was picked on very much. Intersting why she would ask that. But, thanks, I already know what the problem is, but a solution eludes me.
May 29, 2009:
Another lonely Friday night, I'm done. This is too much.
June 2, 2009:
Some people I was talking with believed I date a lot and get around with women. They think this because I showed an email I got from a hot woman to the department gossip, but it didn't work out. All this is funny. Actually, I haven't had sex since I was 29 years old, 19 years ago. That's true.
June 5, 2009:
I was reading several posts on different forums and it seems many teenage girls have sex frequently. One 16 year old does it usually three times a day with her boyfriend. So, err, after a month of that, this little hoe has had more sex than ME in my LIFE, and I am 48. One more reason. Thanks for nada, bitches! Bye.
July 4, 2009:
Wow, already late evening. I stayed in all day. Can't believe there was NOTHING to do today. No parties or picnics. WTF. No need to leave now.
July 20, 2009:
Been a long time since last write. Everything still sucks. But I got a promotion and a raise, even in this shitty Obama ecomomy. No more grunt programming. Go figure! New boss is great. He tactfully says when you did something wrong or complements on good things. Never confused with him. But that is NOT what I want in life. I guess some of us were simply meant to walk a lonely path. I have slept alone for over 20 years. Last time I slept all night with a girlfriend it was 1982. Proof I am a total malfunction. Girls and women don't even give me a second look ANYWHERE. There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO goddam person will tell me what it is. Every person just wants to be fucking nice and say nice things to me. Flattery. Oh yeah, I am sure you can get a date anytime. You look good, etc. Pussies. Awwww, wait. I can just start being self-righteous and say I live a good, clean life. I am holy, that's all Rick Knapp stuff. Hear that you mother fucker: I Am Just Good!
July 23, 2009:
Wow!!
I just looked out my front window and saw a beautiful college-age girl leave Bob Fox's house, across the street. I guess he got a good lay today. College girls are hoez. I masturbate. Frequently. He is about 45 years old. She was a long haired, hot little hottie with a beautiful bod. I masturbate. Frequently. Some were simply meant to walk a lonely path in life. I don't usually look out, but just happened to notice. Holy fuck. I have masturbated since age 13. Thanks, mum and brother (by blood alone). And dad, old man, for TOTALLY ignoring me through the years. All of you DEEPLY helped me be this way.
I wish I can go back to 1975 and fix things. Awe, that wont work, big BULLY BROTHER would assert his bull shit. He was twice my size. He never messed with guys bigger than 5'10, or so. He is a PUSSY at heart. Remember, Michael is my brother (we have common parents, that's all) is still a BOSS. Repetition only for emphasis: HE IS ONLY A BULLY, even at 50ish! Never forget that! Because he exudes confidence. People believe bull shit if delivered WITH CONFIDENCE.
Get it??
On the same thought, things occured to me today. Michael NEVER had an attractive girlfriend. Debbie, Barb, Kim, ... then I lost track. Not to say I had any (execpt Pam, who was about a 7.25). He married a Chinese-descent, petite woman with no body, no ass, no chest and no personality. She never laughs or smiles, neither does he. But she is highly intelligent and an excellent cook. I can testify to that! She home bakes her own DELICIOUS wheat bread! But who cares about that type of small bull crap? Mike even mentioned when we were visiting dad that "she's not very attractive".
I don't know where I am going with this. I am getting tired, feels good to write and get it all out.
On still another thought, I had 20+ years of sobriety and achieved nothing about friendships, girlfriends, guys, etc. Zilch. What a waste.
Bye, for today.
August 2, 2009:
The biggest problem of all is not having relationships or friends, but not being able to achieve and acquire what I desire in those or many other areas. Everthing stays the same regardless of the effert I put in. If I had control over my life then I would be happier. But for about the past 30 years, I have not
August 3, 2009:
I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.
Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY. Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out. Lets see how this new approach works.
Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.
I will try not to add anymore entries because this computer clicking distracts me.
Also, any of the "Practice Papers" left on my coffee table I used or the notes in my gym bag can be published freely. I will not be embarased, because, well, I will be dead. Some people like to study that stuff. Maybe all this will shed insight on why some people just cannot make things happen in their life, which can potentially benefit others.
Miscellaneous:
1. Probably 99% of the people who know me well don't even think I was this crazy. Told by at least 100 girls/women over the years I was a "nice guy". Not kidding.
2. Lee Ann Valdiserri had my baby in early 1991. Haven't seen her since she was about four months into it. I knew her sister, Chris, from high school.
3. Net worth slightly more than $250K, (after all debt) as of end of 2008.
4. Death Lives!
© 2009 George Sodini
This should not be taken off the web. It is obviously my view and opinion.Reproduce this as you wish, in its entirity.
**Copy this to usenet/newsgroups where my voice will speak forever!**
Don't modify it, you can correct my spelling errors, I used WordPad. Unless the names are required legally to be blotted out, then fine. Thanks.
[Following is Sodini's secret hidden message which was at the bottom of the page, but commented out in the HTML:]
At the gym I saw a woman I like. I see her at the park and ride sometimes, so she isn't a stranger. Occationaly she makes good eye contact and smiles, etc. She is maybe 40ish, and attractive to me. I made brief conversation to her and a younger woman she was with today. To get a friend like her (and for night time action) I would cancel this plan, or put on hold, at least for a while.
(links to this diary, as long as they stay active: Click here and here.)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
2081 (or Harrison Bergeron): Film Adaptation on the Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Classic Short Story
I look forward to this movie, but undoubtedly Hollywood will change something or make it all about the relationship between the two extraordinary dancers instead of focusing on the actual point of the story. Still, I'm surprised Hollywood would ever allow this to be produced. Should be an interesting film when compared to the original story.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Georgia Guidestones
What should be easily recognizable as the goals of humanity if space invaders ever actually do land and find a decayed Earth long since vacated of any human civilization, is only insulted and thwarted by those stumbling over each other for more power and more institution:
What's almost as interesting as the mystery of the display itself, is the reaction by religious leaders (click on link and scroll down to "reaction" in the Wiki page). Humanity could learn a thing or two by following these new ten commandments.
THE MESSAGE OF THE GEORGIA GUIDESTONES
1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10.Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.
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What's almost as interesting as the mystery of the display itself, is the reaction by religious leaders (click on link and scroll down to "reaction" in the Wiki page). Humanity could learn a thing or two by following these new ten commandments.
If SPR Is Wrong, I Don't Wanna Be Right
As usual, Spinoza Ray Prozak, a.k.a. Brett Stevens, has made his point loud and clear over at ANUS.com. I can't say it better than SPR, so I'll include a link and some fun facts from his newest article, "Equality As A Tool Of The Salesperson":
Of course, it was witless this whole time to assume consequences would not arrive. They did, and now thirty years later, we're awakening to the fact that:
- We have eliminated the open spaces natural species need to breed, frolic, hunt and nest.
- We have made toxic most of our air and water.
- We have created ugly, utilitarian cities of square shapes.
- Our societies reward the biggest drama queens because drama is necessary to rise above equality.
- We are entering an age of constant political conflict where unlimited wants meet finite reality.
- We have dumbed ourselves down by insisting on equality instead of rewarding the exceptional.
- Our climate may or may not be getting ready to destroy us -- our authorities cannot agree.
- If you ask any modern person their woes, once you get beyond the car payments and toothaches, you will find that these consequences at the root of their misery. Essentially, the social infrastructure is rotted and has been replaced by social preference, which leads to the lowest common denominator enthroned as the optimum.
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Globe Shuts Down Comments; Continues Propaganda
Some of the most controversial recent articles published on Boston.com have had comments shut down where normally, comments from users would soar and draw attention to an article or site. This includes a recent story about a(n) (il)legal immigrant apparently about to lose access to his health care:
Shouldn't he be prosecuted for sending US cash out of the country?
I'd be a bit more worried about a lifelong US citizen losing access to health care - or, for example, being forced to pay a fine or pay insane amounts of money for health care if they can't prove they have it annually on their tax return. Yet, legal (actually, illegal...with "special status", woo hoo!) immigrants are worried that their state subsidized health care is running out? Too bad. People aren't spending money and the state is scrambling for funds, so just like any business, costs have to be cut when revenues fall, particularly in the short term where budget gaps needs to be closed. Don't these people realize that it takes money to supply anyone with free, expensive services? If the well dries up, who's fault is it?
I almost want to believe that states as high-profile as Massachusetts are doing this on purpose so the Obama administration can continue to push universal health care on us. Almost...not quite there yet.
People like me, lifelong residents of New England, are considering leaving the region over issues like this. A relative of mine can't get any health coverage because she can't find a job, but also has a few grand in her savings account and that's considered too much for MassHealth, so they told her to go spend her money. So the system rewards people who hide any money they do have - or in this case, sending it back to their relatives in another country, which is engaging in illegal activity - and punishes the people who pay into the system when they shop, pay income taxes, or generally PRODUCE something in society via economic activity.
People like Ms. Sacchetti, who apparently disabled comments on this story and is all about illegal immigration, always fail to speak about the tax base and how alienated citizens feel when they have to pay for services given away to illegal immigrants for free. This country was not intended as a safe haven for anyone who lives in a country that has earthquakes (the reason Mr. Hernandez is given special status in the first place, even though he was denied special status during a time of civil war in his country). I guarantee you not one person from L'Aquila is asking the US to take them in because they are in the middle of an "earthquake ravaged region" the way Mr. Hernandez did.
Massachusetts needs to get out of the business of providing for those who don't provide anything back to the state. These are people who are likely working under the table, don't file taxes, and take their cash and send it out of the country, which is illegal. Is it any surprise that when lifelong residents go through rough economic times and start saving their money, that the government scrambles to find ways to continue pumping cash into systems that are unconstitutional and shouldn't exist in the first place? Talk about unsustainable. Time to steer the ship away from the iceberg - hopefully starting with a new governor (only wish Arth wanted to run here).
State lawmakers deleted money for immigrants’ health insurance as one of many cuts made to balance the budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. Governor Deval Patrick has proposed a $70 million compromise plan that would grant immigrants access to medical care in August, when their coverage ends, through a patchwork of other state programs that health advocates say is spotty and confusing, especially for those who, like Hernandez, do not speak English.
The 30,000 immigrants caught in the middle have “special status’’ in the immigration system. Many have been in the country less than five years and are seeking asylum from war-ravaged regions.
Hernandez, a 51-year-old janitor, said he arrived in the United States on a visa in 1993, a year after a 12-year civil war ended in his homeland. He applied for asylum and was denied, but was able to obtain temporary legal status in 2001 after a series of earthquakes shattered his country.
Besides, his older brothers and a sister in El Salvador needed the money he sent home.
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Shouldn't he be prosecuted for sending US cash out of the country?
I'd be a bit more worried about a lifelong US citizen losing access to health care - or, for example, being forced to pay a fine or pay insane amounts of money for health care if they can't prove they have it annually on their tax return. Yet, legal (actually, illegal...with "special status", woo hoo!) immigrants are worried that their state subsidized health care is running out? Too bad. People aren't spending money and the state is scrambling for funds, so just like any business, costs have to be cut when revenues fall, particularly in the short term where budget gaps needs to be closed. Don't these people realize that it takes money to supply anyone with free, expensive services? If the well dries up, who's fault is it?
I almost want to believe that states as high-profile as Massachusetts are doing this on purpose so the Obama administration can continue to push universal health care on us. Almost...not quite there yet.
People like me, lifelong residents of New England, are considering leaving the region over issues like this. A relative of mine can't get any health coverage because she can't find a job, but also has a few grand in her savings account and that's considered too much for MassHealth, so they told her to go spend her money. So the system rewards people who hide any money they do have - or in this case, sending it back to their relatives in another country, which is engaging in illegal activity - and punishes the people who pay into the system when they shop, pay income taxes, or generally PRODUCE something in society via economic activity.
People like Ms. Sacchetti, who apparently disabled comments on this story and is all about illegal immigration, always fail to speak about the tax base and how alienated citizens feel when they have to pay for services given away to illegal immigrants for free. This country was not intended as a safe haven for anyone who lives in a country that has earthquakes (the reason Mr. Hernandez is given special status in the first place, even though he was denied special status during a time of civil war in his country). I guarantee you not one person from L'Aquila is asking the US to take them in because they are in the middle of an "earthquake ravaged region" the way Mr. Hernandez did.
Massachusetts needs to get out of the business of providing for those who don't provide anything back to the state. These are people who are likely working under the table, don't file taxes, and take their cash and send it out of the country, which is illegal. Is it any surprise that when lifelong residents go through rough economic times and start saving their money, that the government scrambles to find ways to continue pumping cash into systems that are unconstitutional and shouldn't exist in the first place? Talk about unsustainable. Time to steer the ship away from the iceberg - hopefully starting with a new governor (only wish Arth wanted to run here).
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Independence Day
Click here for my recent article on Corrupt.org about just how far we've come from the leaders who had the vision to found this great nation. Happy Independence Day!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Surprise, Surprise: Our Ancestors Weren't Morons
Archeologists said yesterday that they had unearthed the oldest musical instruments ever found - several flutes that inhabitants of southwestern Germany laboriously carved from bone and ivory at least 35,000 years ago.
Just a few feet away from a bone flute, researchers discovered one of the oldest examples of figurative art - the sculpture of a woman carved from mammoth ivory, a find announced earlier this year. Excavations have also unearthed an array of other art, including carvings of mammoths, cave lions, and mythic half-animal, half-human figures.
A culture rich in figurative art, sophisticated adornments, and music does not directly result in better hunting or more successful reproduction, but music in particular might have had an indirect effect, providing better social ties or improving communication, according to Conard.
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This thinking appears to be backwards: music helped humans evolve into what we are today, so we could create symphonies, phone lines, and Facebook. No, I think that we created music because we were further evolved 40,000 years ago than many of us like to believe, and have had much better success in formulating socities back then even despite having to fight for survival more often in those earlier times.
Either way, the fact remains that the longer we dig back, and the more we find, the creepier our human past becomes to us moderns: we didn't just evolve from block-headed monkeys into the iPhone users we are today, with a little Leave It To Beaver-esque 1950s society tucked neatly between our past and modern eras. There were societies of hunter-gatherers who could make art, play music, and do everything we do today, except they lived in a much more harsh and reality-driven world. Finding things like this makes us think about our lineage in a backward fashion instead of owning up to the fact that maybe what we call "progress" isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Obama Scares The &*%# Out Of Me
A few stories about our new president that have made their way into the media recently have scared me quite a bit. What's shocking is not the fact that Obama is taking power away from Americans and putting it squarely on his own shoulders, but that people are all too willing to give it away with little fanfare.
Here's the most recent of questionable tactics, in regard to free air time given to Obama by ABC regarding a government health care program he's pushing, while ABC dismisses dissenting opinion during that same news conference:
Cassy has a point: ABC is systematically destroying any fair sense of journalism by allowing Obama to present a government health care plan without any tough questions on the topic being thrown his way. It's both an admission that Obama wouldn't want any dissenting opinions, nor his answers to those questions, aired, and also a scarily effective tactic which tells me that the media has more power than I ever gave it credit for. I've never been one to pay much attention to the news media, and now I'll try to ignore it even more. Ironically, the most "liberal" and "progressive" of us are the most aggressive when it comes to controlling what we see and hear, and which dissenting opinions - if any - get aired. This is sad and shameful, and I'm surprised any of the people involved with this, including our new president, could call themselves "Americans".
Here is the letter written by Ken McKay [click here], which also includes a link to write the ABC exec responsible for this nonsense.
This is just one of a handful of red flags - actually, forget that; outright illegal activity - by the Obama administration. Recently, as I wrote on my other blog, Obama pushed Chrysler into bankruptcy court and muscled the court such that the decision came down to prioritize the labor union's wants over the legal rights of the bondholders - a complete reversal from normal bankruptcy law. While I'd love to see Alfa Romeos and Fiats being sold here, I don't want my president messing with the justice system just to avoid Chrysler being sold off in bits and pieces under his watch (sure, let the next guy deal with it so no one can say a major US automaker went out of business during my tenure). What's happening is absurd.
Here's the most recent of questionable tactics, in regard to free air time given to Obama by ABC regarding a government health care program he's pushing, while ABC dismisses dissenting opinion during that same news conference:
ABC now gets to decide which points of view are valid and allowed to be heard, and which are not. In this case, they just so happen to be silencing Barack Obama’s opposition. What a striking coincidence that the people they’re excluding are the ones who aren’t falling into lockstep with our Dear Leader.As I said repeatedly during the campaign, 2008 will be known as the year that journalism died. Why would the ass-kissers in the MSM suddenly start doing their jobs now? They’re doing so well propping up our Dear Leader. A fair, ethical media wouldn’t be choosing a side here. Real journalists would simply broadcast the debate with no bias, no shutting down of alternative opinions, and no favoritism. This is the stuff of the Soviet Union, not the United States.
[+]
Cassy has a point: ABC is systematically destroying any fair sense of journalism by allowing Obama to present a government health care plan without any tough questions on the topic being thrown his way. It's both an admission that Obama wouldn't want any dissenting opinions, nor his answers to those questions, aired, and also a scarily effective tactic which tells me that the media has more power than I ever gave it credit for. I've never been one to pay much attention to the news media, and now I'll try to ignore it even more. Ironically, the most "liberal" and "progressive" of us are the most aggressive when it comes to controlling what we see and hear, and which dissenting opinions - if any - get aired. This is sad and shameful, and I'm surprised any of the people involved with this, including our new president, could call themselves "Americans".
Here is the letter written by Ken McKay [click here], which also includes a link to write the ABC exec responsible for this nonsense.
This is just one of a handful of red flags - actually, forget that; outright illegal activity - by the Obama administration. Recently, as I wrote on my other blog, Obama pushed Chrysler into bankruptcy court and muscled the court such that the decision came down to prioritize the labor union's wants over the legal rights of the bondholders - a complete reversal from normal bankruptcy law. While I'd love to see Alfa Romeos and Fiats being sold here, I don't want my president messing with the justice system just to avoid Chrysler being sold off in bits and pieces under his watch (sure, let the next guy deal with it so no one can say a major US automaker went out of business during my tenure). What's happening is absurd.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Blogs & Sites I'm Liking Lately
A couple of great ones:
http://www.amerika.org (Brett Stevens)
http://tradunt.blogspot.com (Tradunt; new)
More postings coming on Corrupt.org of course...and with a recent milestone birthday & child on the way, it's been tough to dedicate a lot of time to this space.
http://www.amerika.org (Brett Stevens)
http://tradunt.blogspot.com (Tradunt; new)
More postings coming on Corrupt.org of course...and with a recent milestone birthday & child on the way, it's been tough to dedicate a lot of time to this space.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Recent Corrupt.org musings
Here's a couple recent articles, with more to come:
Co-Sleeping Arguments With Family
iPod and Apple: Interesting Historical Perspective
Demeaning Culture Through Generalization
As always, you can find my writings on Corrupt at the following two locations:
Regular blog
Family column
Co-Sleeping Arguments With Family
iPod and Apple: Interesting Historical Perspective
Demeaning Culture Through Generalization
As always, you can find my writings on Corrupt at the following two locations:
Regular blog
Family column
Friday, May 22, 2009
Ayn Rand: More Idiocy In The Media
Collective socialism tends to inhibit innovation, and no one captured this idea more perfectly than Ayn Rand. I think in the context of what America should be today, Ayn Rand's ideas generally work - of course, they're a bit oversimplified and I do not believe her work is a manual on how to run society, as some do. Still, she was a great writer and Atlas Shrugged was her magnum opus: integrating great character stories with her philosophy perfectly.
In hilarious fashion, writer Alex Beam delves right into the Ayn caricature of the typical elitist who pretends he's doing a favor for the masses - by criticizing a book and a philosophy he admits he's never read:
Alex Beam knows nothing of the economy, and nothing of Ayn Rand, only knows that Alan Greenspan attended Rand's funeral and that he presided over government expenditures. Those expenditures were caused by politicians, public pressure, silly world trade agreements - take your pick, but it wasn't Greenspan, who admitted after he left his post that most of what he had done was against what he believed in. But we can't speak out against the sanctity of the Federal Reserve falsely controlling the money supply, because that's an existing institution in the US and Rand is dead, so it's easy to make fun of her without ever reading her books.
Good work Alex, can't wait to read your next article!
In hilarious fashion, writer Alex Beam delves right into the Ayn caricature of the typical elitist who pretends he's doing a favor for the masses - by criticizing a book and a philosophy he admits he's never read:
I would be the first to admit that I don't know much about Ayn Rand, beyond her name. The Ayn rhymes with dine, and Rand is supposedly an Americanization of her birth name Rosenbaum. I have heard the operatic details of her personal life, (much younger lover, proves to be fickle; drama ensues) and have a crude understanding of Objectivism, the "morality of rational egoism" that Brook cites above. Private entrepreneurialism = good; centrally planned, government-funded economy = bad.
As it happens, America's most prominent Randie is probably former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who presided over one of the most grandiose expansions of government expenditures in world history. In 1982, Greenspan attended Rand's funeral, where her body lay next to a large floral arrangement of a dollar sign. R.I.P.
[+]
Alex Beam knows nothing of the economy, and nothing of Ayn Rand, only knows that Alan Greenspan attended Rand's funeral and that he presided over government expenditures. Those expenditures were caused by politicians, public pressure, silly world trade agreements - take your pick, but it wasn't Greenspan, who admitted after he left his post that most of what he had done was against what he believed in. But we can't speak out against the sanctity of the Federal Reserve falsely controlling the money supply, because that's an existing institution in the US and Rand is dead, so it's easy to make fun of her without ever reading her books.
Good work Alex, can't wait to read your next article!
Harvard Study Supports BPA Leaching Theory
Further to my original posts [1, 2] about the issues with BPA in plastic drinking bottles, Harvard has released a study which further confirms what everyone should by now know: stay away from products that leach chemicals:
Bisphenol-A is a widely used chemical additive. The only advice one can really give to pregnant women and families is to try to use stainless steel where possible (water bottles, etc. - check out Sigg and Klean Kanteen, or cut BPA out otherwise. Having canned foods only occasionally, using fresh produce, avoiding the microwave, and cooking in stainless steel pots and pans will greatly reduce the risk of disorders associated with BPA consumption. In short: live naturally, and avoid plastic in unnecessary applications like water bottles.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who drank for a week from the clear plastic polycarbonate bottles increased concentrations of bisphenol A - or BPA - in their urine by 69 percent.
BPA is used in hundreds of everyday products. It is used to make reusable, hard plastic bottles more durable and to help prevent corrosion in canned goods such as soup and infant formula.
Numerous animal studies in recent years suggest that low levels of BPA might cause developmental problems in fetuses and young children and other ill effects. The health effects on adults are not well understood although a recent large human study linked BPA concentrations in people's urine to an increased prevalence of diabetes, heart disease, and liver toxicity.
[+]
Bisphenol-A is a widely used chemical additive. The only advice one can really give to pregnant women and families is to try to use stainless steel where possible (water bottles, etc. - check out Sigg and Klean Kanteen, or cut BPA out otherwise. Having canned foods only occasionally, using fresh produce, avoiding the microwave, and cooking in stainless steel pots and pans will greatly reduce the risk of disorders associated with BPA consumption. In short: live naturally, and avoid plastic in unnecessary applications like water bottles.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
More from the Continuum Concept Community
I joined up with The Continuum Concept message board recently, as this idea on the surface seemed to be a good way to consider raising a child (we're expecting in Aug09). Essentially, the idea is to not tie them down with Mommy & Daddy's schedule or strict rules, but let them spend their time how they wish. I like to at least further that idea by stating it's still the parents' job to infuse some sense of cultural values & organic culture into the mind of the child. Try to avoid watching TV excessively, etc. Whether you do this with roundabout methods - focusing on the positive, like, "hey, let's turn the TV off and start preparing a nice healthy meal for dinner!", or setting soft rules in place regarding how much time is okay to sit in front of the idiot box - I don't think this matters as much as the idea that you don't want your child to resent you but you need to start early in terms of gearing them toward a "good" lifestyle.
The unfortunate part of all this is that we've lost the sense of community present in the Yequana tribe, on which the entire concept is based per the author's experience in the novel which set this concept in motion. So on the Continuum Concept forums, you end up with people thinking that community isn't necessary; it was a byproduct of the Yequana tribe living within this Continuum. How they could ever believe that cultural values & strong community has little or nothing to do with the Continuum Concept is beyond me. I feel the inverse is true: without the sense of community & values that are more in accordance with nature than anything we see in industrialized societies today, there would be no Continuum Concept.
This post in particular caught my attention:
Continuum-plus? Because the Yequana didn't have microwaves & TV but we do? I think this idea is ludicrous, and here's my response:
How are we more free than a tribal people in the modern world?
My brother in law is with WorldTeach for a year in Costa Rica. While many of the people in the tiny village he's in love his presence and he's picking up that dialect of Spanish quite well, I envy the idea of unplugging from modern conveniences and living more in accordance with nature. He has changed drastically since going down there; I can hear it in his voice & feel it in the blog he keeps for us family members. You mention the economic crisis to these people and they'd laugh at you - what economic crisis? I feel the people in Costa Rica, living in small houses & sharing food & working together during times of real crisis are a lot more free than people who can jump on a plane for business travel and are always tied to blackberries. The more you centralize government for the sake of "modern society", the less free you really are, because you're relying on leaders that could be thousands of miles away from you to make decisions on your daily life.
I don't think we should eliminate all technology, but if you're talking about true freedom, we pay it lip service in the media but what does freedom mean? Freedom from the evil terrorists in the middle east? Freedom from your government telling you what to do, what to watch, or worse, watching you? Freedom from your neighbor robbing from you, freedom to arm yourself? Many of these are imaginary rights & freedoms to a tribe that simply lives off the land with a group of people, most of whom they get along with simply because they have to, and can choose to swim, go for a hike, or relax and look up at the sky during their free time. I like that idea of freedom better than going to a voting booth while my government (in the US, at least) continues to waste the money we allow them to have on wars in far-off countries for the sake of nonrenewable resources that will dry up in 100 years anyway.
The unfortunate part of all this is that we've lost the sense of community present in the Yequana tribe, on which the entire concept is based per the author's experience in the novel which set this concept in motion. So on the Continuum Concept forums, you end up with people thinking that community isn't necessary; it was a byproduct of the Yequana tribe living within this Continuum. How they could ever believe that cultural values & strong community has little or nothing to do with the Continuum Concept is beyond me. I feel the inverse is true: without the sense of community & values that are more in accordance with nature than anything we see in industrialized societies today, there would be no Continuum Concept.
This post in particular caught my attention:
I also feel that we are lucky to have "continuum+", ie we have the ability to choose to be connected and we have other freedoms that are to do with our modern world that the Yequana and other tribal people might not have (yet) - although it is interesting to me to see how these people will incorporate the modern stuff into their systems.
Continuum-plus? Because the Yequana didn't have microwaves & TV but we do? I think this idea is ludicrous, and here's my response:
How are we more free than a tribal people in the modern world?
My brother in law is with WorldTeach for a year in Costa Rica. While many of the people in the tiny village he's in love his presence and he's picking up that dialect of Spanish quite well, I envy the idea of unplugging from modern conveniences and living more in accordance with nature. He has changed drastically since going down there; I can hear it in his voice & feel it in the blog he keeps for us family members. You mention the economic crisis to these people and they'd laugh at you - what economic crisis? I feel the people in Costa Rica, living in small houses & sharing food & working together during times of real crisis are a lot more free than people who can jump on a plane for business travel and are always tied to blackberries. The more you centralize government for the sake of "modern society", the less free you really are, because you're relying on leaders that could be thousands of miles away from you to make decisions on your daily life.
I don't think we should eliminate all technology, but if you're talking about true freedom, we pay it lip service in the media but what does freedom mean? Freedom from the evil terrorists in the middle east? Freedom from your government telling you what to do, what to watch, or worse, watching you? Freedom from your neighbor robbing from you, freedom to arm yourself? Many of these are imaginary rights & freedoms to a tribe that simply lives off the land with a group of people, most of whom they get along with simply because they have to, and can choose to swim, go for a hike, or relax and look up at the sky during their free time. I like that idea of freedom better than going to a voting booth while my government (in the US, at least) continues to waste the money we allow them to have on wars in far-off countries for the sake of nonrenewable resources that will dry up in 100 years anyway.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Health care mess chasing people out of state
I posted on Corrupt here about a recent health care story in the news.
The driving points are as follows:
The driving points are as follows:
- Massachusetts legislators are looking for new & creative ways to force hospitals & doctors to spend less taxpayer dollars
- Hospitals & doctors are just trying to do their jobs but are being squeezed by insurance companies
- Insurance companies are squeezing patients as the result of above
We've seriously considered leaving the state, and if this mess of health care and increased taxes continues, I don't know how we can afford to stay here any longer. There's too much corruption, red tape, and government interference, and the worst part is, the traditional values of Massachusetts are so misaligned with where we are now. I can't call another state home, but I may have to at least try it out for a bit with the increasing squeeze being put on the middle class.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Massachusetts votes for higher income tax
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo won his first political victory with the 108-to-51 vote, persuading lawmakers to sign onto his plan to increase the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent. The vote also heightens the tension among top Beacon Hill Democrats, who have had sharp disagreements over how to solve the state's budget crisis.
Patrick opposes the plan and sent an ultimatum to all 200 members of the Legislature yesterday afternoon, promising to veto the increase unless lawmakers first enact transportation, ethics, and pension law changes he has sought.
"While I recognize the need for revenue, raising taxes of any kind during a recession is a bad idea," Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, who has not ruled out challenging Patrick, said in a statement.
[+]
Keep in mind, Massachusetts is receiving $3billion in federal bailout funds from our federal government. And they won a scare tactic campaign victory in November by scaring voters into voting against an income tax rollback.
Treasurer Cahill's remarks highlight the problem with politics and an uneducated public: the problem isn't revenue generation, it's spending. The problem in Massachusetts has always been and will always be spending, not a lack of revenue. Toll roads, high excise taxes, high property taxes, high sales taxes...the state gets plenty of revenue. It just doesn't know how to spend it effectively.
And Deval, while I like what he's doing, the causes of his action are problematic. Per above, he's essentially saying, "I won't allow a tax increase unless you tell me I can spend it any way I want."
The politicians running our state have left the voters and citizens completely out of the political process. I hope to leave Massachusetts at some point when it makes sense, both career and family-wise, and let the socialists infect the entire state before it collapses. We're at the point of no return: it's easier to let things fall apart so we can build anew than try going back to the values upon which this state was founded.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Begging for socialism & dictatorship
In a shameful move by a shamefully & poorly managed US auto company, GM is now asking the government to completely take over the company so it doesn't have to run itself - nor confront the unions it plans to phase out:
I would rather see GM go out of business or at least substantially reduce its product offerings (more than just slashing Pontiac; think much bigger - or smaller, as the case may be). The government should not be in the business of making cars for profit. And since the government will realize this soon too, taking over 50% of the company's stock (read: operational & financial decisions) means we're slowly getting on the path of government taking over all industry. Alarmist? Apocalyptic? OK maybe a bit too much melodrama to make such a leap, but it's still frightening for those of us who value good old fashioned hard work in our industry here in the States.
My only hope is that a strong state like Texas secedes from the union and shows the other 49 how it's done. Only that type of action will finally convince people that a heavily centralized federal government, which should not be in the business of bailing out or taking over industries to the point where those companies are given a lifeline just long enough to BEG the government to put it out of its misery as an independent for-profit going concern, has no place in this country.
If this (or something like it) doesn't happen? I fear the socialism bug that has infested too many countries in Europe, and spread all too easily via the EU.
GM is living on $15.4 billion in government loans and faces a June 1 deadline to restructure and get more government money. If the restructuring doesn't satisfy the government, the company could go into bankruptcy protection.
GM said in a news release that it will ask the government to take 50 percent of its common stock in exchange for canceling half the government loans to the company as of June 1.
If both are successful, the government and UAW health care trust would own 89 percent of the company's stock, with the government holding over a 50 percent stake, Henderson said.
[+]
I would rather see GM go out of business or at least substantially reduce its product offerings (more than just slashing Pontiac; think much bigger - or smaller, as the case may be). The government should not be in the business of making cars for profit. And since the government will realize this soon too, taking over 50% of the company's stock (read: operational & financial decisions) means we're slowly getting on the path of government taking over all industry. Alarmist? Apocalyptic? OK maybe a bit too much melodrama to make such a leap, but it's still frightening for those of us who value good old fashioned hard work in our industry here in the States.
My only hope is that a strong state like Texas secedes from the union and shows the other 49 how it's done. Only that type of action will finally convince people that a heavily centralized federal government, which should not be in the business of bailing out or taking over industries to the point where those companies are given a lifeline just long enough to BEG the government to put it out of its misery as an independent for-profit going concern, has no place in this country.
If this (or something like it) doesn't happen? I fear the socialism bug that has infested too many countries in Europe, and spread all too easily via the EU.
Reverse colonization never looked so bad
"The Department of Health and Human Services has declared a Public Health Emergency as a precautionary tool to ensure that we have the resources we need at our disposal to respond quickly and effectively," Obama told a gathering of scientists, amid increasing worries worldwide about a possible pandemic.
In the United States, a private school in South Carolina was closed Monday because of fears that young people returning from Mexico might have been infected."
[+]
Reverse colonization never took such a hard blow. A Mexican illegal is on the border, right now, hearing word about this, and has one foot in one country and one in the other. Maybe his thought process would go something like this: Go into the US at risk of swine flu but free medical care; go back to Mexico at risk of swine flu and not-so-great medical facilities.
Damn…I don't think this changes much about our illegal immigration issue.
It does highlight a couple of important points though, and people tend to largely ignore these in the politically heated debate about illegal immigration:
- As awful as that guy in The Godfather Part II was to Vito Andolini by changing his name to Corleone, checking his eyes, ears, nose, and throat for sickness was a good thing for our nation. I know; I'm the child of a legal Italian immigrant, the family of whom was rejected three times at the embassy due to eye infection in one child.
- Tolerance of everything except intolerance - this logic is hit hard by the simple reality that if you tolerate everything and everyone in a given society, you end up with no culture, no mores, nothing to which you can anchor your society. So "swine flu outbreak - let's shut down the border for a while and sort this out, oh and by the way, we're going to screen all passengers coming back from Mexico" becomes "swine flu - oh no - Obama will put the CDC into action and save us, all hail our savior!" We treat symptoms and effects in our society instead of causes: it's sickening, it can't last, and our country will crumble if we continue down this path.
The other, somewhat hilarious part about the article referenced above is that it's implied we'll now be doing "border screening". Really, even for those who sneak through and are never seen by Border Patrol? That'll work...
Friday, April 17, 2009
Working out and eating MEAT
My friend JF and I get into a good workout routine when the weather brightens in the spring, making it a point to go running on nice days during our weekly get-togethers so as to counterbalance the potentially filling/heavy food & drink we will consume later.
We're lucky enough to live in a great area of Massachusetts, so we run a 2.25 mile route (when we're in better shape, 4.5 miles - twice around) around a pond which is right nearby a Whole Foods & a liquor store. The events of last evening were as follows & are becoming regular, and are also depicted below:
We're lucky enough to live in a great area of Massachusetts, so we run a 2.25 mile route (when we're in better shape, 4.5 miles - twice around) around a pond which is right nearby a Whole Foods & a liquor store. The events of last evening were as follows & are becoming regular, and are also depicted below:
- Run with JF and his dog for a few miles around a scenic pond
- Put dog in car, go to Whole Foods and buy some meat/food
- Go to liquor store and choose a couple of beers - my favorite lately have been Czech and German lagers (Warsteiner, Czechvar, etc.)
- Cook up meat on grill
It's still early spring, so it's nice to know there's a good few more months of this type of activity left. Nothing like a man/meatfest to end a week!
This particular feast included Sam Adams-infused bratwurst, 93% lean sirloin burgers, black forest extra-thick bacon, focaccia rolls, soft cheese, spicy mustard, garbanzo bean & couscous concoction by JF, and Czechvar beer. A true feast!
Thursday, April 09, 2009
US Naval fleet falls apart before our eyes
"Greatest military force the Earth has ever seen", huh?
So our Naval fleet, instead of using force to ensure this humanitarian aid ship can get on with its business, is enlisting the help of FBI negotiators? That must be comforting to the hostages.
Instead of being overly tolerant of moron "pirates" who fancy themselves heroes, kill them with long-range sniper attacks and salvage what you can of the vessel.
UPDATE 4/17/2009:
Navy SEALS shot three of the pirates in the head, killing them, using only three bullets. Good work! Unfortunately, we'll now have to listen to the liberal media talk about the poor, poor Somali pirates and how they're not really at fault because they were abused as children...look for that on Nightline within a month or two.
WASHINGTON—The piracy crisis over a lone hostage in the Indian Ocean took on the familiar air of a cops-and-robbers standoff, with the U.S. Navy seeking advice Thursday from seasoned FBI negotiators.
Their goal: Resolve the incident without military force.
As the FBI joined the delicate negotiations, the shipping company Maersk said that the safety of Capt. Richard Phillips is its No. 1 priority. Barack Obama, facing one of the first national security tests of his presidency, declined comment Thursday when asked about the standoff.
[+]
So our Naval fleet, instead of using force to ensure this humanitarian aid ship can get on with its business, is enlisting the help of FBI negotiators? That must be comforting to the hostages.
Instead of being overly tolerant of moron "pirates" who fancy themselves heroes, kill them with long-range sniper attacks and salvage what you can of the vessel.
UPDATE 4/17/2009:
Navy SEALS shot three of the pirates in the head, killing them, using only three bullets. Good work! Unfortunately, we'll now have to listen to the liberal media talk about the poor, poor Somali pirates and how they're not really at fault because they were abused as children...look for that on Nightline within a month or two.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Father sells daughter, then renegs
SALINAS, Calif.—A California man accused of selling his 14-year-old daughter into marriage for $16,000, beer and meat has pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment.
Marcelino de Jesus Martinez had pleaded not guilty in February to procuring a child for lewd acts, aiding and abetting statutory rape and child endangerment. If convicted of those charges he faced 10 years in prison.
Martinez went to police to get his daughter back because payment wasn't made.
[+]
Got that, people? Father sells daughter for beer & meat, doesn't get paid, the complains to the police.
Instead of locking him up on my taxpayer dollar, why not throw him out of the country all sliced up and what not? Take a knife to his face, maybe even carve an obscenity in there, let the 14 year old daughter do it, and put a GPS tracking device on this goon so we know when he tries to enter the country again?
If these types of hard lines are taken with scum like this, do you really think illegal immigration - especially the absolute WORST countries like Mexico have to offer - would be a problem?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
More troubling signs of overpopulation
The 4,317,000 births in 2007 just edged out the figure for 1957, at the height of the baby boom. The increase reflected a slight rise in childbearing by women of all ages, including those in their 30s and 40s, and a record share of births to unmarried women.
But in contrast with the culturally transforming postwar boom, when a smaller population of women bore an average of three or four children, the recent increase mainly reflects a larger population of women of childbearing age, said Stephanie J. Ventura, chief of reproductive statistics at the center and an author of the new report. Today, the average woman has 2.1 children.[+]
The arithmetic of Dr. Bartlett finally has the required evidence to prove him correct: less babies born on a percentage basis from a higher population produces a positive feedback effect which means more and more babies being born with little being done to stop it.
This new evidence should alarm anyone within the borders of the US. More US consumers wasting more valuable resources. As mentioned in earlier posts, let's do the Earth and ourselves a huge favor by reducing our population down to under 1billion before nature does it for us.
For more, see:
Corrupt.org interview with Dr. Bartlett on YouTube
Dr. Bartlett's video series on YouTube
Dr. Bartlett's homepage with info & resources
Corrupt.org search page of Bartlett material links
UPDATE 3/21/2009:
Check out remarks in "The Edge" section of Boston.com for curious comments:
There is both good and bad news from the more than 4.3 million births:* The U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend.
* However, the teen birth rate was up for the second year in a row.
[+]
Since when is the population replacing itself a healthy trend? If anything our numbers - overall, globally - should be lowered as much as possible, and Americans should be pointing the finger right at their own fellow citizens, not to far-off third world lands. Americans use many more resources on average per person and our mortality rate is much lower, so the folks doing the most damage are Americans: green lawns, supermarkets filled with products in plastic packaging, and infrastructure "needs" that far outdo anything the Romans ever built.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
For once, I agree with the Pope
Actually, the Catholic Church in and of itself is not bad, it's the institution and the people that give organized religion a bad name.
Here's a case where the crowd's reaction is going to have nothing to do with the wisdom being shared by Pope Benedict and everything to do with the source:
The pope said a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease, as he answered questions submitted in advance by reporters traveling on the plane.
The Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms, as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception. Senior Vatican officials have advocated fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the fight against AIDS.
[+]
Of course, the mass media doesn't analyze the Pope's words, but instead decides to state supposedly draconian values of the Catholic Church directly below the only piece of info that matters: a responsible attitude toward sex helps fight this disease. If you are having sex with someone you don't know or don't trust, there will be some level of repercussion, be it from AIDS, a damaged morale, maybe the woman you slept with is a psycho, maybe she has herpes and the condom didn't protect you from that, etc.
Morons who have nothing better in their lives to focus on than simply AIDS instead of the big picture of cultural decay will vilify the Pope and parrot their message while shutting out that of others. This is a perfect example of what's wrong in our society.
Here's a case where the crowd's reaction is going to have nothing to do with the wisdom being shared by Pope Benedict and everything to do with the source:
"You can't resolve [the AIDS problem] with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane heading to Yaounde. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."
The pope said a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the disease, as he answered questions submitted in advance by reporters traveling on the plane.
The Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms, as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception. Senior Vatican officials have advocated fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the fight against AIDS.
[+]
Of course, the mass media doesn't analyze the Pope's words, but instead decides to state supposedly draconian values of the Catholic Church directly below the only piece of info that matters: a responsible attitude toward sex helps fight this disease. If you are having sex with someone you don't know or don't trust, there will be some level of repercussion, be it from AIDS, a damaged morale, maybe the woman you slept with is a psycho, maybe she has herpes and the condom didn't protect you from that, etc.
Morons who have nothing better in their lives to focus on than simply AIDS instead of the big picture of cultural decay will vilify the Pope and parrot their message while shutting out that of others. This is a perfect example of what's wrong in our society.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Condo, house, or apartment?
I wrote this post for my Corrupt.org Family blog, but I think it's too long and strays from most of the other material, such that I'm posting it here instead.
As a reminder, the Family Blog is at:
http://themodernsoul.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-corruptorg-project.html
When my wife and I lived in a condo, it was a pretty good deal: you have a mortgage and have all of that interest you can write off your taxes, condos generally are updated much more often than apartment buildings because people buying the space will be more picky about features and flooring, and you have a sense of pride in ownership.
In our particular experience, let's ignore the fact that we didn't like the town so much and the building itself was stuffed to the brim with what were likely illegal immigrants (this was during the sub-prime boom, a time in which anyone with body hair was able to obtain a mortgage). Looking back, would I change anything after we sold our condo and decided to rent on the cheap, if I had known that less than two years later we'd be having a family?
Even if we were going to stay in our current 900 sq. ft. apartment long-term, the answer is "no", and the major reason I recommend renting or owning a stand-alone house on your own land, is property managers (and condo associations).
Our experience with condo management was an awful one. There's one individual who can normally never be bothered with very valid complaints or requests, and always gives you a hard time over the silliest things. We ended up being charged $75 for his "time" to fill out a bank insurance form with about five check-boxes on it. That nearly held up the sale of our condo. I was happy to pay it to get out of the place, and have never looked back. And believe it or not, that was the least of our problems – you can't be dealing with this nonsense from passive-aggressive bullies looking for a handout when you have an infant.
Now compare this to a landlord, particularly in a state like Massachusetts where tenant protection laws are nothing if not unreasonable (in favor of the tenant). If you're a good tenant and pay your rent on time, the landlord will be more responsive because you're a guaranteed stream of income every month. In a condo, if you pay your condo fee, the manager doesn't care about you because they can penalize you for not paying it (again, with passive-aggressive bully behavior, the stuff of elementary school playgrounds).
The bottom line is this: do your research before you rent and make sure the landlord doesn't have a bad reputation for treating tenants like garbage or being unresponsive (use Yahoo!, LocalSearch, Yelp, etc.). You hold the cards more as a renter – believe it or not – than as an owner of space in a condo complex. The best option, of course, is to work something out with family if there's a reasonable amount of space – if they'll be a good influence on your child – or buy a standalone house if you can afford to do so. It puts you in the driver's seat more and will give you more time with your family to worry about important things.
As a reminder, the Family Blog is at:
http://themodernsoul.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-corruptorg-project.html
When my wife and I lived in a condo, it was a pretty good deal: you have a mortgage and have all of that interest you can write off your taxes, condos generally are updated much more often than apartment buildings because people buying the space will be more picky about features and flooring, and you have a sense of pride in ownership.
In our particular experience, let's ignore the fact that we didn't like the town so much and the building itself was stuffed to the brim with what were likely illegal immigrants (this was during the sub-prime boom, a time in which anyone with body hair was able to obtain a mortgage). Looking back, would I change anything after we sold our condo and decided to rent on the cheap, if I had known that less than two years later we'd be having a family?
Even if we were going to stay in our current 900 sq. ft. apartment long-term, the answer is "no", and the major reason I recommend renting or owning a stand-alone house on your own land, is property managers (and condo associations).
Our experience with condo management was an awful one. There's one individual who can normally never be bothered with very valid complaints or requests, and always gives you a hard time over the silliest things. We ended up being charged $75 for his "time" to fill out a bank insurance form with about five check-boxes on it. That nearly held up the sale of our condo. I was happy to pay it to get out of the place, and have never looked back. And believe it or not, that was the least of our problems – you can't be dealing with this nonsense from passive-aggressive bullies looking for a handout when you have an infant.
Now compare this to a landlord, particularly in a state like Massachusetts where tenant protection laws are nothing if not unreasonable (in favor of the tenant). If you're a good tenant and pay your rent on time, the landlord will be more responsive because you're a guaranteed stream of income every month. In a condo, if you pay your condo fee, the manager doesn't care about you because they can penalize you for not paying it (again, with passive-aggressive bully behavior, the stuff of elementary school playgrounds).
The bottom line is this: do your research before you rent and make sure the landlord doesn't have a bad reputation for treating tenants like garbage or being unresponsive (use Yahoo!, LocalSearch, Yelp, etc.). You hold the cards more as a renter – believe it or not – than as an owner of space in a condo complex. The best option, of course, is to work something out with family if there's a reasonable amount of space – if they'll be a good influence on your child – or buy a standalone house if you can afford to do so. It puts you in the driver's seat more and will give you more time with your family to worry about important things.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
New Corrupt.org mission statement
Courtesy of Brett Stevens. I like #4 the best, but you decide:
[Link to new Corrupt.org Misssion Statement]
[Link to new Corrupt.org Misssion Statement]
Obama not giving up reigns of Bush
As a Senate committee debated yesterday whether to create a "truth commission" to investigate alleged abuses of White House authority during the Bush era, President Obama has quietly adopted some of his predecessor's expansive views of the power as commander in chief - especially concerning antiterrorism policies.
Those moves could lead to a confrontation over the scope of presidential authority with the Democratic-led Congress, whose leaders say they intend to recalibrate the balance of power between Congress and the White House. Some top Democrats, Obama allies, and civil libertarians say they are closely watching how the new president uses his power, and intend to challenge him if he does not voluntarily roll it back to pre-Bush limits.
[link]
What, you thought it was going to be any different with a hip and cool new President? Oops - this isn't an iPod commercial anymore; this is the real thing.
Republicans get into power in the late 90s and early 2000's and end up with infighting and a go-nowhere approach to politics. Democrats get into power in 2008 and 2009, and the same thing happens. When are we going to finally realize that both parties are the same group of morons just spinning their wheels on Capitol Hill?
We don't need a "truth commission" to reign in some of the executive authority granted to - well, himself - by Bush. We simply need to move forward with an approach that stems from the Constitution: "Do you have the power, as the head of the executive branch of government, under the Constitution to do that? No? Well then you can't do it. And if you do, our Court system will ensure you're stopped."
The Constitution is somewhat complex, but it also provides very set guidelines and a great balance of power. That power was bound to be corrupted at some time or other - whether by FDR for (seemingly) the public good so that the government could provide for people, or by Bush for the moronic notion that he had some mission from God (a la Blues Brothers) to fight terrorism with any authority he deemed necessary.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Ron Paul on Glenn Beck: Globalism is a nightmare
Truer words were never spoken:
"The solutions are going to be presented as gigantic and global, and the answer is going to be local – the answer is going to come from you and your local community and state, not the globe."
Yet another argument in favor of parallelism - even the mass media and business interests are warming up to the idea that the entire world's hands in America's pie can only be a bad thing.
Imagine having grown up in Eastern Europe or Soviet Russia. Your newly elected American President saddles up to the G7 summit indicating he'd be open to a world currency and all kinds of solutions where we open up the flood gates to input from other nations. Of course every country in the world is going to love it because they all want America to be run in the same pseudo-socialist way. It's a passive-aggressive bully mentality and the US has absolutely no need to consider input from any other nations on how our country should be run.
Being a Massachusetts resident, I already see some of the problems with half-socialist/half-capitalist regimes, and I can tell you that the future of this country is a dark one if we sell out to foreign nations (more than we already have).
"The solutions are going to be presented as gigantic and global, and the answer is going to be local – the answer is going to come from you and your local community and state, not the globe."
Yet another argument in favor of parallelism - even the mass media and business interests are warming up to the idea that the entire world's hands in America's pie can only be a bad thing.
Imagine having grown up in Eastern Europe or Soviet Russia. Your newly elected American President saddles up to the G7 summit indicating he'd be open to a world currency and all kinds of solutions where we open up the flood gates to input from other nations. Of course every country in the world is going to love it because they all want America to be run in the same pseudo-socialist way. It's a passive-aggressive bully mentality and the US has absolutely no need to consider input from any other nations on how our country should be run.
Being a Massachusetts resident, I already see some of the problems with half-socialist/half-capitalist regimes, and I can tell you that the future of this country is a dark one if we sell out to foreign nations (more than we already have).
Friday, February 27, 2009
Breathalyzer tests at high school sporting events
“The school will continue its supervisory approaches into the playoffs and we hope to see both new fans and the die-hards in the stands. The administration will also bring a breathalyzer to the games and privately screen any students suspected of being under the influence (hopefully, we won't have to administer the test),” Richards wrote.
The principal also cited a state high school rule that bans face painting and other behavior at games. "The MIAA does not permit face painting, signs, noise makers, hat throwing, bare midriffs, and other behaviors or items that may distract the players or referees,'' Richards wrote.
[+]
Pseudo-authority figures like teachers and local education administrators have no idea what to do with kids, so they come up with rules to suppress behaviors - like no face-painting, and violating Constitutional rights by bringing Breathalyzer machines to games.
The fact is, face-painting and a few drunk teenagers at a hockey game are not big problems that need to be solved by school administrators. They worry because they hear about and know what kids are doing on their spare time away from school, and most of them know the parents don't really care all that much or aren't aware of the major issues facing their kids. Then there's always teachers and principals who simply feel the need to flex authoritative muscle for the sake of it - passive-aggressive bullies who like to feel important. What can a school administrator do except token gestures like this, which only make the students resent all authority?
The focus needs to be on increasing standards within the institution, coming up with better ways to facilitate education, and not pandering to bratty children and their parents. Anything else is window dressing, and in cases like this, are elements of a child's life in which educators have no business.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Check out this blog
Go here:
http://perkinsincostarica.blogspot.com/
My brother in law is in Costa Rica with WorldTeach and his blog is linked above. Much respect, because he's on a journey many of us - myself included - could never imagine. Building houses in the rain and mud for poor families; teaching great young minds who need the care and attention of a great teacher on a daily basis; breaking social barriers and living without a cell phone or McDonald's close by for a year or more...again, can you imagine yourself in a mountain in Costa Rica teaching villagers? I thought not.
I don't think it's a fair comparison, so view this as more a correlation, but if you look at poor villages in Europe, you see what many of us actually came from. Anyone of southern Italian, Spanish, Czech, French, even German & Polish descent - many of these immigrants were poor and our great grandfathers came over during the Great Depression or some other time of crisis, looking for work. Imagine if your great grandfather had stayed behind and was maybe ten times as poor as he was back in his village in Europe, which had the benefit of thousands of years of Roman and Greek society behind it? Then you might get an idea of what Dan is dealing with in Costa Rica today. No Wal-Mart; no PDAs; no distinction between Apple or Microsoft (THE HORROR!).
While I'm definitely against overpopulation and world governments throwing money at problems, this type of direct assistance being provided by Dan & his fellow volunteers strengthens my view that private organizations do a much better job than any government ever could in terms of assistance. It also strengthens my view that people should and could be helped directly by giving of time & money versus sending boxes of air-dropped food and drugs to, say, Africa, and then watching as corrupt governments cash in on that aid.
What the US government does, while patting itself on the back, is throw money, drugs, or food at a problem and says, "have fun". They don't actually build anything, but they waste our taxpayer money on looking good to the rest of the world, while simultaneously giving guns and ammo to horrible allies like Israel, our "American in the Middle East".
Dan, however, is actually building something for families and watching as their situation gets just a little better. That family will have a much better view of America and Americans as a result, especially compared to the Palestinian grandfather who can still remember when Israel was called Palestine and he and his family weren't living in concentration camps. This grandfather has probably seen one son or grandson "accidentally" murdered by Israeli military strikes, and another one angry enough and stupid enough to join a terrorist organization as payback.
There's aid which only upholds the corrupt regimes we claim to fight in this country, and then there's aid that actually does something of value. Dan is doing a great job writing about how much more effective the latter can be.
http://perkinsincostarica.blogspot.com/
My brother in law is in Costa Rica with WorldTeach and his blog is linked above. Much respect, because he's on a journey many of us - myself included - could never imagine. Building houses in the rain and mud for poor families; teaching great young minds who need the care and attention of a great teacher on a daily basis; breaking social barriers and living without a cell phone or McDonald's close by for a year or more...again, can you imagine yourself in a mountain in Costa Rica teaching villagers? I thought not.
I don't think it's a fair comparison, so view this as more a correlation, but if you look at poor villages in Europe, you see what many of us actually came from. Anyone of southern Italian, Spanish, Czech, French, even German & Polish descent - many of these immigrants were poor and our great grandfathers came over during the Great Depression or some other time of crisis, looking for work. Imagine if your great grandfather had stayed behind and was maybe ten times as poor as he was back in his village in Europe, which had the benefit of thousands of years of Roman and Greek society behind it? Then you might get an idea of what Dan is dealing with in Costa Rica today. No Wal-Mart; no PDAs; no distinction between Apple or Microsoft (THE HORROR!).
While I'm definitely against overpopulation and world governments throwing money at problems, this type of direct assistance being provided by Dan & his fellow volunteers strengthens my view that private organizations do a much better job than any government ever could in terms of assistance. It also strengthens my view that people should and could be helped directly by giving of time & money versus sending boxes of air-dropped food and drugs to, say, Africa, and then watching as corrupt governments cash in on that aid.
What the US government does, while patting itself on the back, is throw money, drugs, or food at a problem and says, "have fun". They don't actually build anything, but they waste our taxpayer money on looking good to the rest of the world, while simultaneously giving guns and ammo to horrible allies like Israel, our "American in the Middle East".
Dan, however, is actually building something for families and watching as their situation gets just a little better. That family will have a much better view of America and Americans as a result, especially compared to the Palestinian grandfather who can still remember when Israel was called Palestine and he and his family weren't living in concentration camps. This grandfather has probably seen one son or grandson "accidentally" murdered by Israeli military strikes, and another one angry enough and stupid enough to join a terrorist organization as payback.
There's aid which only upholds the corrupt regimes we claim to fight in this country, and then there's aid that actually does something of value. Dan is doing a great job writing about how much more effective the latter can be.
New Corrupt.org project
I shared with my fellow Corrupt.org writers the fact that I'll be a father soon (woo hoo!). Before I realized my wife was pregnant, I already had some pretty strong feelings on parenthood. I was very fortunate to have a mother at home when I was young and never had to be sent to day care. I feel I'm a better person because I had great parents who were there for me. I also believe family planning in this society we view as so "enlightened" is piss-poor these days. I see too many children being coddled, oversocialized on the playground & undersocialized within their own families, or just plain plopped in front of a television. Life is far too precious - okay, I know, let me be corny for just a minute - to waste it on day care providers and DVD producers. Even day care providers I know are horrified at the age at which some parents drop their kids into their arms to raise.
The reason I bring Corrupt.org into this is because I brought this issue to Corrupt.org. We brainstormed how we could try to get more family-type posts and Alex at Corrupt wanted me to start a series of "Family" columns. I told him I'm no expert and wouldn't want to make it preachy, since I just found out I'll be a Dad in six months or so. He told me to just use what I know of Corrupt.org's mission as well as my own writing style to formulate a series of posts centering on what is wrong with today's ideas of parenting & what I feel is a better way.
I'm up to the challenge, and a couple of posts have already been published. The column can be seen at the below link. Enjoy!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Corrupt.org parody video: "The Idiot Effect"
Excellent video parody of "The Girl Effect" video series by Nike.
This parody brought to you by the usual suspects - Corrupt.org!
This symbolizes adequately what I'll be teaching my kid(s) to avoid.
This parody brought to you by the usual suspects - Corrupt.org!
This symbolizes adequately what I'll be teaching my kid(s) to avoid.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Whole foods are always a better option
What is it about this recession that is making us obsessed with food? Half of the country wants to dig its way out of misery, preferably on allotments from the National Trust. The other half is flocking to McDonald's, Greggs and Domino's Pizza, which are reporting surging sales. Kentucky Fried Chicken is planning to create 9,000 jobs.
The junk-food boom is being portrayed as evidence of hard times. Maybe. But I can pick up a pizza in Tesco for half what I pay at Domino's. I can make my family dinner for less than the £10 family bucket that KFC is so proud of. Joanna Blythman, in her wonderful book Bad Food Britain, points out that poverty has spawned some of the world's greatest cuisines, like that of southern Italy. But these are based on fresh, local ingredients. We Brits seem addicted to our comforting, effortless jumbles of water, fat, sugar and additives. We consume half of all the crisps and ready meals in Europe.
Most of us are confused. We bleat about animal welfare, but shun the pricey local butcher in favour of meat that may or may not have ever seen a daisy. We balk at paying for raw ingredients, but readily cough up for extortionate ready meals. We spend hours watching TV chefs but apparently only 13 minutes on average making a meal - down from one hour in 1980. Thirteen minutes is about the time it takes to unwrap an overpackaged pie, wait for it to cook and boil up some frozen veg. (I know this because I retain a deep childhood nostalgia for Fray Bentos).
[+]
Different country, same idea.
In the US, I'd be willing to bet that McDonald's and all the other fast-food places are doing very well. The reason for that? Well, these are tough times, why not spend $7 or so for a meal instead of spending the time to cook it? Most families are two-income now, so when times get tough, it's not just about the money, it's about the time investment in cooking and preparing vs. buying ready-made meals.
This causes health problems down the line, and we seem to be ignoring that as a culture. Health food as snobbery is nothing new; that goes back to the 1960s, and its most recent and familiar incarnation was in the 1980s - yogurt, jogging, salads, etc. We've replaced that in the new millenium with organic products, which has now spurned an industry of "green" products - that still come in plastic bottles or have mercury, like those "green" light bulbs everyone loves so much, and do more damage to the environment than before.
Even two bags of groceries at a place that sells mostly organic products, like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, will yield a bill of $40-$50 for two people. Most of that food - hopefully - is fresh, so it has to be consumed within a week, and then it's back to the grocery store for more staples.
Where's the benefit in this, besides the obvious health benefits?
The benefit is that if $40-$50 feeds two people with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and maybe even some dried but unsalted and unprocessed snacks for the better part of a week (think a $5.00 bag of dry, raw almonds), you're only spending about $5 a day EACH to eat. Throw in some meat and, okay, you might be talking $7 a day each. If you go to McDonald's, you get a crappy meal for $7, and you're left wanting more because the food is designed to make you more thirsty and even more hungry for the same type of junk.
Do your body a favor and stick to as many fresh greens, carrots, peppers, and fruits like mango, orange, pears, and bananas as possible. Make fruit smoothies, boil instead of fry unless using extra virgin olive oil. The one-time hit to your wallet each week will seem like a lot, but if you're going to a discount grocery store for processed crap AND eating out at places like McDonald's, you're spending more money to put more chemicals into your body than it can handle.
Don't believe me? Have fun with that diabetes.
The junk-food boom is being portrayed as evidence of hard times. Maybe. But I can pick up a pizza in Tesco for half what I pay at Domino's. I can make my family dinner for less than the £10 family bucket that KFC is so proud of. Joanna Blythman, in her wonderful book Bad Food Britain, points out that poverty has spawned some of the world's greatest cuisines, like that of southern Italy. But these are based on fresh, local ingredients. We Brits seem addicted to our comforting, effortless jumbles of water, fat, sugar and additives. We consume half of all the crisps and ready meals in Europe.
Most of us are confused. We bleat about animal welfare, but shun the pricey local butcher in favour of meat that may or may not have ever seen a daisy. We balk at paying for raw ingredients, but readily cough up for extortionate ready meals. We spend hours watching TV chefs but apparently only 13 minutes on average making a meal - down from one hour in 1980. Thirteen minutes is about the time it takes to unwrap an overpackaged pie, wait for it to cook and boil up some frozen veg. (I know this because I retain a deep childhood nostalgia for Fray Bentos).
[+]
Different country, same idea.
In the US, I'd be willing to bet that McDonald's and all the other fast-food places are doing very well. The reason for that? Well, these are tough times, why not spend $7 or so for a meal instead of spending the time to cook it? Most families are two-income now, so when times get tough, it's not just about the money, it's about the time investment in cooking and preparing vs. buying ready-made meals.
This causes health problems down the line, and we seem to be ignoring that as a culture. Health food as snobbery is nothing new; that goes back to the 1960s, and its most recent and familiar incarnation was in the 1980s - yogurt, jogging, salads, etc. We've replaced that in the new millenium with organic products, which has now spurned an industry of "green" products - that still come in plastic bottles or have mercury, like those "green" light bulbs everyone loves so much, and do more damage to the environment than before.
Even two bags of groceries at a place that sells mostly organic products, like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, will yield a bill of $40-$50 for two people. Most of that food - hopefully - is fresh, so it has to be consumed within a week, and then it's back to the grocery store for more staples.
Where's the benefit in this, besides the obvious health benefits?
The benefit is that if $40-$50 feeds two people with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and maybe even some dried but unsalted and unprocessed snacks for the better part of a week (think a $5.00 bag of dry, raw almonds), you're only spending about $5 a day EACH to eat. Throw in some meat and, okay, you might be talking $7 a day each. If you go to McDonald's, you get a crappy meal for $7, and you're left wanting more because the food is designed to make you more thirsty and even more hungry for the same type of junk.
Do your body a favor and stick to as many fresh greens, carrots, peppers, and fruits like mango, orange, pears, and bananas as possible. Make fruit smoothies, boil instead of fry unless using extra virgin olive oil. The one-time hit to your wallet each week will seem like a lot, but if you're going to a discount grocery store for processed crap AND eating out at places like McDonald's, you're spending more money to put more chemicals into your body than it can handle.
Don't believe me? Have fun with that diabetes.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
New Automotive blog
I've decided to start a new automotive blog, at the following link:
http://drivingenthusiast.blogspot.com
This blog is not for mechanics or DIY-experts. We have plenty of forums for things like that. This is mainly to discuss luxury import vehicles, though that's not to say I won't be writing about some of the better American offerings here and there. I may even have a second author enlisted if he has time to post.
The point is to give some general ideas and thoughts to new passenger vehicles. Will I occasionally write about F1 racing, Ferraris, over-$100K cars, etc.? Sure, but most of it will focus on cars that most people can afford if they buy used and only a few years old.
The direction of the blog will undoubtedly change over time, just as this one has. While it's tempting to rewrite history and export some of my car posts from this blog into my new blog, I think I'd rather get a fresh start and worry about linking to past car posts here and at Corrupt.org at a later date.
Enjoy!
http://drivingenthusiast.blogspot.com
This blog is not for mechanics or DIY-experts. We have plenty of forums for things like that. This is mainly to discuss luxury import vehicles, though that's not to say I won't be writing about some of the better American offerings here and there. I may even have a second author enlisted if he has time to post.
The point is to give some general ideas and thoughts to new passenger vehicles. Will I occasionally write about F1 racing, Ferraris, over-$100K cars, etc.? Sure, but most of it will focus on cars that most people can afford if they buy used and only a few years old.
The direction of the blog will undoubtedly change over time, just as this one has. While it's tempting to rewrite history and export some of my car posts from this blog into my new blog, I think I'd rather get a fresh start and worry about linking to past car posts here and at Corrupt.org at a later date.
Enjoy!
Monday, February 09, 2009
Fiat takes stake in Chrysler
Chrysler, best known for its Jeep and minivan models, has been hurt by its reliance upon slow-selling trucks and sport utility vehicles and analysts have said it may not survive the year as an independent company despite receiving a $4 billion government loan late last year.
The company was hit especially hard by last year's industrywide drop in North American auto sales. Its sales plunged 53 percent in December and it posted a 30 percent drop for 2008.
Nardelli said the partnership would provide a return for taxpayers on the loan, "securing long-term viability of Chrysler brands," boosting consumer confidence and "preserving American jobs."
[+]
Chrysler refuses to die. The government bailed them out with $1billion in the late 70s, they need more bailout money now while Ford sits by and watches, and now they need yet another partnership from a European company to save them. Chrysler is a macrocosm of people in our society: neurotic and constantly looking for a savior to bail them out.
To Nardelli's credit above, though, he's correct in that the only way to boost confidence and preserve American jobs is through businesses sorting this stuff out for themselves. The economy is receding; we should let it continue to recede until it's done, then allow it to grow back naturally - and don't forget organically. The big joke this week is that the dollar is recovering, so all the hyperinflation nonsense goes out the window. Don't misunderstand strength for deflation, which, in fact, IS closely followed by hyperinflation.
Let's hope Fiat follows through with its plan to sell Fiat models in the US for the first time in nearly 30 years. Once their models begin to outshine those of Chrysler, Fiat should spin off Jeep into its own company and kill Chrysler for good, rebadging the entire company as Fiat Automotive.
The company was hit especially hard by last year's industrywide drop in North American auto sales. Its sales plunged 53 percent in December and it posted a 30 percent drop for 2008.
Nardelli said the partnership would provide a return for taxpayers on the loan, "securing long-term viability of Chrysler brands," boosting consumer confidence and "preserving American jobs."
[+]
Chrysler refuses to die. The government bailed them out with $1billion in the late 70s, they need more bailout money now while Ford sits by and watches, and now they need yet another partnership from a European company to save them. Chrysler is a macrocosm of people in our society: neurotic and constantly looking for a savior to bail them out.
To Nardelli's credit above, though, he's correct in that the only way to boost confidence and preserve American jobs is through businesses sorting this stuff out for themselves. The economy is receding; we should let it continue to recede until it's done, then allow it to grow back naturally - and don't forget organically. The big joke this week is that the dollar is recovering, so all the hyperinflation nonsense goes out the window. Don't misunderstand strength for deflation, which, in fact, IS closely followed by hyperinflation.
Let's hope Fiat follows through with its plan to sell Fiat models in the US for the first time in nearly 30 years. Once their models begin to outshine those of Chrysler, Fiat should spin off Jeep into its own company and kill Chrysler for good, rebadging the entire company as Fiat Automotive.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Government-sanctioned duopoly: Pick Verizon or Comcast
I have Verizon Wireless for cell phone service and based on their customer service over the years, I see no reason to give them any more money than they have already robbed from me. I also read an online blog about their horrible customer service and was convinced to stick to Comcast wherever possible. Verizon owns the telephone lines (DSL service where available and telephone service), and a new infrastructure they spent billions throwing into the ground, called FiOS; Comcast owns the cable lines (cable TV, cable internet, digital voice through Verizon's phone lines).
Problem is, those are my choices. I'm not one for too many choices - go into a furniture mega-store and try to figure out exactly what you want within an hour; I tried that recently and it didn't work out so well. When my wife and I moved, we kept our Comcast service but dumped the digital box so we got the most basic cable service available - 20 channels, no box - and high speed internet. We were liberated, for the most part, from TV (my wife's idea). It was only about $55 a month and it worked fine for a year and a half. But we got the itch for a landline, and here were our options:
Problem is, those are my choices. I'm not one for too many choices - go into a furniture mega-store and try to figure out exactly what you want within an hour; I tried that recently and it didn't work out so well. When my wife and I moved, we kept our Comcast service but dumped the digital box so we got the most basic cable service available - 20 channels, no box - and high speed internet. We were liberated, for the most part, from TV (my wife's idea). It was only about $55 a month and it worked fine for a year and a half. But we got the itch for a landline, and here were our options:
- Verizon: $39.99 per month for unlimited national dialing with a few features (Caller ID, Voicemail, etc.), or $29.99 per month for a local calling plan that allows us to call towns we border for free, and 5 cents per minute otherwise.
- Comcast: $39.99 per month for unlimited national dialing with a bunch of features, a few more than Verizon but not much, or $29.99 per month for local calling to towns near us.
Got that? $40 a month for national; $30 a month for local. That, my friends, is called price fixing. Or collusion. Whatever duopolists do.
That means suddenly our "services" bill nearly doubles. In fact, it more than doubled because we figured, why not have more channels and get the 3-fer package? So we'll end up paying near $125 a month, if not more, and we get the same "great deal" with Verizon's FiOS plan. We opted for Comcast because it's what we know and the price doesn't go up by QUITE as much after the promotional period is over. But it's interesting just how much people are willing to pay for TV and internet services these days, with the landline being a mere afterthought. The landline is now priced at a premium because if you want an old-fashioned landline, you have two choices, and the prices are the same. This is your government at work: years of regulation and then semi-deregulation allowed the "haves" to continue to own the infrastructure, so why should they even allow competition?
This article does a good job of explaining the problems with two companies controlling these services that most want.
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