If life is a highway, the Internet is a fractal

The Internet started as a meeting ground for a select few of nerds who were too smart for their own good. As it grew in popularity more and more people started using it as a meeting ground as well, sadly these people were not too smart for their own good.





The Internet, now, plays host to every conceivable concoction of hobby, interest, fetish, and perversion.

To each his (or her) own; but come on!

If you examine far enough, you can find almost anything; just becareful because you might unwittingly find yourself on the wrong side of a FBI sting operation.

Shut up or exact justice

There is a lot of allegations of voter fraud and vote tampering this election cycle. From the reports I have heard the "glitches" seem to favor the Democratic party.

This has a lot of people crying voter fraud.

Well, good; if there is voter fraud occurring, then demand justice!

Call the police, record the incident on your cell phone.

Make them accountable.

I am sure one of the "volunteers" knows who to call in case of emergency.

Do take it laying down.

Cause a fuss.

Let the ruling class know this behaviour will not be tolerated.

Burn hot, burn out

Trying to keep abreast of what is going on in the world, I find myself overwhelmed with bad news. Everyday it is more of the same; crooked dealings, lies, cheating, murder, slander, rape, and then the really nasty stuff.

The Blaze has burned me out.

I have a job that has its own set of concerns.

I am a fixer, I fix what doesn't work.

I am not designed to listen to what is wrong and not fix it, but apparently this is the way it goes in politics; "We all know it doesn't work, but lets not fix it" seems to be the motto of many. Perhaps it is in the interests of job security that they don't just overhaul the thing and get done with it. If it is fixed then your hours are reduced to routine maintenance.

Whatever the reason, I don't care.

Call me when you are ready to actually deal with the problem and get it resolved. I am tired of listening to the moaning about how broken it is.

Man up.

Roll up your sleeves.

Be unpopular.

Do the dirty work.

Get the job done.

We have to do it; so should you.

incline planes and cannon balls

It maybe that my years of going to the gym to workout are behind me. I don't know if it was the social aspect or that I just needed to get out of the house; but I no longer have any real desire to go workout at a gym for a monthly fee.

I have been using kettlebells for awhile and really like the workout you can get with them. Recently I got a total gym (for $80 from craigslist).

It is funny that in the technological age we live in, I get the best workout using a simple machine (an incline plane) and a cannon ball with a handle.

I will say I was really surprised to find out how good of an exercise you can get from the total gym (I am highly skeptical of anything from an infomercial). I should not have to answer this, but just to be clear, it will not let you bulk up- it will give you endurance workouts.

What I really would like is to try out the Bayou fitness total trainer.

So, my wish list for this year is a total trainer pro and a 70 lb Ader KB.

Overload

I hate this time; about 2 weeks until elections.

I'm so tired of all the political crap.

He did this,

She did this,

TIRED TIRED TIRED

SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTHS- Right now anything you say will just piss people off. We have already decided if we are going to vote for you or not.

STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP

we are beginning to hate you now.

Unexpected

Some days you get a unexpected surprise

That is all.

We aren't voting for you because we think you're cool

This election cycle it is clear that we are sending a message to the powers that be. For those candidates that we vote in, we need to make one thing clear; We will get rid of you in a heartbeat if you do not do the job we are electing you to do. Working class folks are not big on non-performance in the work place; we have to meet expectations all day long.

We are not in love with you and do not think you are exceptionally cool, we want you to do the job we are electing you to do.

AND BY ALL MEANS, DO NOT LIE TO US; we will take you at your word. If you break a promise, we will not go lightly on you. We are tired of hearing about the political machine. It is broken, we are sending you to fix it- NOT PLAY WITH IT.

We are tired of politics as usual; that old game has got us into this mess.

We the people will be heard.

Just remember, wherever you go, there you are.

Every now and again I wonder what it would be like to be someone else. I am not talking about a celebrity or someone in the national spotlight but someone who grew up in a place with a different family environment, philosophical outlook, sociological understanding, and personality. The latest occurrence happened when I was watching a show and the contestant was some guy from the Bronx; this guy looked and acted the way I would expect a guy who grew up in that area (I understand that this is all based on stereotypes).

It is not that I have not had the opportunity to “change” who I am. I have lived in many different cities and states in my life. In fact, I am so use to be the “new guy” that the concept of being part of a group or community is foreign to my thinking. I have moved in to areas where I have only distant relationships in the area and could have presented myself as whoever I wanted to be.

I remember flirting around with the idea I could present myself as someone who I am not, but soon found that you really can not divorce yourself from your sense of being. The image of yourself is not as easily transformed as you think. To accomplish this you must be constantly engaged in restraining who you are. I am do believe it is possible to accomplish changing who you are (how you were raised and your worldview), but it is complex. I also believe that it is possible that if you try to change who you are you could end up more losing something and find you can not restore it.

Oh yes, this is what we should strive to obtain

As a male who grew up in the 80's my image of a strong and fit physique is a tad askew. Rambo and the Terminator really set the bar to a unrealistic goal.

Even now: happily married, father, successful in business; the image has not changed much.

It seems like no matter where you look, there seems to be someone ready to tell you that you need to lose weight, gain muscle, or enlarge your johnson.

Really?

Can we not be satisfied with who we are and where we are? Our culture is highly discontent. When you have size 1 women running around with the ever elusive 5 pounds to lose.

We seem so busy lusting after what we think we want, we miss the here and now. Not to sound like too much of a a-hole, if you waste your life in this manner, you deserve to be miserable.

Get over yourself. There is more to life than being pretty.

Pretty people decompose just like ugly people. So find something that is really worth your time and attention, you'll be happier and enjoy yourself more.

No pity following

My wife said she would start following my blog just so I would someone following my blog.

I don't need no stinking pity following; pity sex, "Yes" but absoultly no pity following.

Say "yes" to YES

Just enjoying a night watching a YES concert via Netflix

Netflix is posed to really take a big bite out of the customer base for cable companies. We have opted for Netflix over Cable because we like being in control of what the programing is and only want to watch reruns if we really want too, not because a network is just filling in time until the start of the next season.

More media outlets and networks should seriously find away to bundle their content with a service like Netflix. Cable (the land of a million reruns and commercials you pay a premium price to view) is a dinosaur. And just so you know, I can watch BeastMaster on Netflix too (vague late 80's reference to HBO movie rotation)

Is that what a real man is supposed to look like?

Fight Club quote, " Is that what a real man is supposed to look like?"


We live in the illusion that fitness is glamorous. What is below the exterior is never questioned, as long as the exterior fits our expectations.

Collective hate bonding

I like the idea of "Anti-social networking" as much as the next guy, but should we be concerned with the effects of collective hate bonding; namely "Mob Rule".

If you can get enough people together who hate the same thing (the operative word is 'enough') you then possess the very volatile formula for revolution. It is precisely because of this instability, that Democracy is a poor governmental system.

I digress.

It seems odd that people would be surprised that making a website where people can share their dislikes, especially by allowing them the give a brief reason for the dislike, would foster bonding.

Common hates have always been a catalyst for alliances; hate fuels hate, and alliances built on common dislikes grow and fester to the point that they begin to engulf everyone and everything that stands either outside or in opposition to the alliance.

Do we ban it?

No, you can't; it is too much apart of human nature.

Can we educate it out of people?

No, it is entrenched in the brain where reason can not touch.

What do we do?

Acknowledge it in yourself and be honest about it in your own life, work against your natural inclinations, and work on not feeding the hate of others.

That is all we can do. At the very best we will not encourage others to act out on their hate, but we will never stop them from hating.

STOP LYING

If there is one message the politicians need to hear, loud and (excruciatingly) clear, it's "STOP LYING!"

We are tired of all the lies, half-truths, spin, mis-remembering, and just plain unadulterated bullshit.

It is not that one party corners the market on truthfulness; both parties are guilty of saying what they think their current audience wants to hear.

I wouldn't let my kid act the way politicians act.

If you take a second to think about it, we let politicians act like punk ass kids and we let them have the power of making laws. I think if they can't act like adults before election they should be publicly flogged.

Campaign promises should be treated as verbal contracts. If after they are elected and it is discovered they lied they should be jailed. People are elected based on the idea they will stay true to the promises they make during the campaign.

"So that one may walk in peace."

"So that one may walk in peace."

Should we be surprised

There has been a fair amount of press concerning bullying lately.

It seems like a lot of people like to write off bullies as just a fact of growing up. Others want to delve into the fragile psyches of the bully to explain away their behaviour. The real reason why some people continue to bully is plain and simple: bullies know that the laws favor the aggressor. Bullies know that if they strike first, they have the advantage and the victim will (likely) be restrained from reacting.

This happens all the time.

Teachers or other authority figures, when trying to intervene, will restrain the victim along with the aggressor. Many of these people live in a ideological land where the victim should rise above it, don't repay offense with offense. In this system those who wish to encourage peace actually facilitate war. It doesn't take a lot to figure out why those who bully continue to do so.

I say bullocks to that. I will continue to teach my son that if anyone bullies him, he is required to defend himself.

what is up with these sicko?

If there was any other group out there using children in the same fashion that some of these environment companies are, there would be a huge public out cry.



First, the 10.10 video comes out.

If you haven't seen the video (it makes the SAW movies look like a PBS special) here is the link



The a group called ACT features a picture of a little girl with a noose around her neck standing on a iceberg.


I mean, REALLY?


Is it truly the message these groups want to send? I think the ACT group is trying to impress that they believe that if Climate change is not dealt with (I personally believe that the whole climate change thing is a scheme to make money) that it is putting children at risk.

But the 10.10 video doesn't send that message at all. The 10.10 video's message is, if you dissent we will kill you. Further more, if you teach your kids to be skeptical of climate change, we will kill them as well.


I don't care for democrats or republicans- both are pretty much sellouts. But I do believe that if these tactics were in use by some group, any less progressive, the public outcry would be monumental. We would all be demanding a pound of flesh.


You fuck with me, that's cool, I can hold my own; you fuck with my kid- I kill you.

stop dicking around.

I have a hobby of "collecting" funny or unique warning signs. I think it stems from the fact that we as a culture have become so sissified that if someone doesn't warn us of every possible danger we feel we have been wronged.

I digress.
I think this sign could, in fact, be a commentary for my life.

Dicking around by the edge has always been a dangerous venture; but, I must not give a rip because I always end up dicking around the edge again.

Once again, my footing slips (because as the sign says, footing is hazardous), I'm slipping down the bank on my ass.

Social Not-working

I do not want to be lumped in with those who for one reason or another hate facebook. Nor do I fear deeply for all the personal information social networking sites mine and sell; that is pretty much their business. Stalking, Cyber bullying, and alike do not fuel my desire to disengage from facebook.
 
Do I think facebook has value? Yes, I know of many families that use FB as a means of staying in touch and keeping up-to-date with each other's happenings.

I, merely, am done.

I didn't join FB right away (I delayed, wondering what all the to-do was about); much like my delay in joining myspace. (Is myspace still around?). But once I did join FB, I was amazed at how many people from high school were already active on the site; people I had forgot and not thought about for years. It was fun, to re-connect, but quickly you realize why the divide occurred in the first place. We are not eternally encased in who we were, nor should we be seen in that way. Nor do we need to have all of our thoughts and daily activities chronicled (yes I am aware of the irony) for friends and acquaintances alike to scroll through daily.

I, merely, am done.

Soon, as with all things, FB will drift into the back of our collective consciousness. It will be there. There will be many who will still use it religiously. No, it will no cease, we will merely move forward and no longer notice FB.

we will, merely, be done.

words words words words words

Left. Right. Progressive. Conservative.

All just talking over each-other.

No one is willing to agree on a topic and they all just resort to their prepackaged talking points.

I am convinced that there is somewhere between 4 and 10 original thinkers with access to a national microphone. After those few have spoke, the rest of us just regurgitate it over and over.

I'm tired of the talk. Now, the political ads litter the broadcast channels.

All I can say to who ever comes up with those ads; GROW THE F''K UP!

You all sound like whiny little brats, tattling on one another. You are all slime and deserve nothing but the scorn of those who actually work for a living.

GROW UP; before we make you actually contribute to society.

more than you know

Amazingly people still haven't figured out that other people are not so single dimensional that they can be known from just a cursory acquaintance.