In our Sunday paper my wife found an advertisement for a "Poetry Contest with $100,000 in Prizes Awarded Annually!"
There is no company or publishing house mentioned at all--suspicious! The mailing address is simply:
Poety Contest
Editor 210-3
305 Madison Ave.
Suite 449
New York, NY 10165
I'm wagering that this is one of those scams where they tell you how wonderful your work is and offer to publish it in an anthology if only you'll send them $49.95 - a sweet deal for a nave. Still I plan on mailing something in and exploring the scam, because I'm curious. I'll post the results here.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thanks again Mr. Bush
Banks and investment groups are failing because of their own greed and you want to write them a blank check - for how many billions?
So once again the American people suffer. We pay for your war; we pay for your mistakes; we pay for your greed; we pay for your ignorance. History will not be kind to your administration – rightly so.
So once again the American people suffer. We pay for your war; we pay for your mistakes; we pay for your greed; we pay for your ignorance. History will not be kind to your administration – rightly so.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Let go and let...
If you live in a primarily Christian society, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Let go, and let God.” I have always taken the meaning of this to be don’t worry so much about micromanaging your life because bad/good things will happen that you can’t possibly predict and therefore have any control over. You should trust that God is looking out for you; accept his will and go on with your life.
There’s a very Buddhist feeling to that. You can remove God from that sentiment and plug in the ‘Universe,’ not in the sense that the Universe is interested controlling any aspect of Human fate, but that the Universe is what it is and has no concerns or motives.
Let go and let universe
I bring this up because happiness (as least for me) is something I struggle with. Yes, I know I ended my sentence with a preposition; let go grammarians. It is all of the little and big aggravations of daily life that take away my awareness of why I should be happy--or at least not so bothered and annoyed (see the previous post about fairness).
I think that the key is detachment from the world in which we were conditioned to exist; the world that was constructed by our predecessors. I’m not talking about running away to the jungle, living naked and eating berries. It’s similar to the way that Buddhists and Christians are taught to live; it’s a matter of focus.
<begin aside>The teaching of Buddhism and Christianity are the most familiar to me. I have studied both. When I refer to the teaching, I am referring to the ‘ideals’ put forth, not the actual Buddhists or Christians walking and breathing. In my experience the real world practitioners are less than ideal. <end aside>
The teachings instruct to focus beyond this life; that this life is less important than the existence after death. By accepting that and setting our focus beyond the ‘pettiness’ of this world, we can live a happier life, less bothered by the problems humanity.
To me it seems unfortunate that an afterlife (of sorts) has to be postulated in order to deal with the here and now. I know that in Buddhism there is no afterlife like that of the Christians, but there is an ‘after-this-place’ that serves a similar function at least for my point. I am trying to consider focus in my personal philosophy. Instead of focus after this life, I am trying to focus on this life as a whole.
To do this a level of detachment from the emotions caused by annoyances must be maintained. Emotions confine us to the here and now like nothing else in our lives. (On reflection, perhaps pain concretes our feet to the here and now more than even emotions—but emotions can be controlled). If I can focus (or at least be aware) beyond the here and now, then perhaps I can assess the individual annoyances against the whole and then, perhaps, I can let them go more easily.
Let go and let happy
There’s a very Buddhist feeling to that. You can remove God from that sentiment and plug in the ‘Universe,’ not in the sense that the Universe is interested controlling any aspect of Human fate, but that the Universe is what it is and has no concerns or motives.
Let go and let universe
I bring this up because happiness (as least for me) is something I struggle with. Yes, I know I ended my sentence with a preposition; let go grammarians. It is all of the little and big aggravations of daily life that take away my awareness of why I should be happy--or at least not so bothered and annoyed (see the previous post about fairness).
I think that the key is detachment from the world in which we were conditioned to exist; the world that was constructed by our predecessors. I’m not talking about running away to the jungle, living naked and eating berries. It’s similar to the way that Buddhists and Christians are taught to live; it’s a matter of focus.
<begin aside>The teaching of Buddhism and Christianity are the most familiar to me. I have studied both. When I refer to the teaching, I am referring to the ‘ideals’ put forth, not the actual Buddhists or Christians walking and breathing. In my experience the real world practitioners are less than ideal. <end aside>
The teachings instruct to focus beyond this life; that this life is less important than the existence after death. By accepting that and setting our focus beyond the ‘pettiness’ of this world, we can live a happier life, less bothered by the problems humanity.
To me it seems unfortunate that an afterlife (of sorts) has to be postulated in order to deal with the here and now. I know that in Buddhism there is no afterlife like that of the Christians, but there is an ‘after-this-place’ that serves a similar function at least for my point. I am trying to consider focus in my personal philosophy. Instead of focus after this life, I am trying to focus on this life as a whole.
To do this a level of detachment from the emotions caused by annoyances must be maintained. Emotions confine us to the here and now like nothing else in our lives. (On reflection, perhaps pain concretes our feet to the here and now more than even emotions—but emotions can be controlled). If I can focus (or at least be aware) beyond the here and now, then perhaps I can assess the individual annoyances against the whole and then, perhaps, I can let them go more easily.
Let go and let happy
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The concept of Fairness
The concept of fairness is difficult for me to let go. The idea is of course a construct of humans. It sprang from our desire to make some sense of the world around us. Likewise, I think religion came from the same place, and perhaps it is the source of the concept of what is fair.
The universal forces act as they act, regardless of human feelings or concepts. So if we cannot expect fair treatment from the extraneous world then at least we *should* be able to expect it from other like minded people. That is if only they can see past their personal need, want, feeling of justification, greed, etc.
So where are these like minded people? They fade in and out.
They all can seem to find justifications as to why they deserve better and therefore do not have to be fair. I do not wish to be hypocritical and point all fingers outward; I too am guilty, more often than I'd like to be, of such thoughts and actions. I try to recognize it in myself and take the opportunity to change or rethink my action.
Do not think that philosophy or religion are the answers. They may be used as tools to gain the personal strength of character necessary to grasp and promote fairness. Philosophy and religion can help teach the concepts to people unexposed by their particular upbringing. But to make fairness a part of your daily thoughts and actions takes personal practice and fortitude.
Fairness and other 'humanely' concepts, like compassion and kindness, are worth the effort otherwise we're reptiles.
And I for one am tired of sharing my world with human reptiles.
The universal forces act as they act, regardless of human feelings or concepts. So if we cannot expect fair treatment from the extraneous world then at least we *should* be able to expect it from other like minded people. That is if only they can see past their personal need, want, feeling of justification, greed, etc.
So where are these like minded people? They fade in and out.
They all can seem to find justifications as to why they deserve better and therefore do not have to be fair. I do not wish to be hypocritical and point all fingers outward; I too am guilty, more often than I'd like to be, of such thoughts and actions. I try to recognize it in myself and take the opportunity to change or rethink my action.
Do not think that philosophy or religion are the answers. They may be used as tools to gain the personal strength of character necessary to grasp and promote fairness. Philosophy and religion can help teach the concepts to people unexposed by their particular upbringing. But to make fairness a part of your daily thoughts and actions takes personal practice and fortitude.
Fairness and other 'humanely' concepts, like compassion and kindness, are worth the effort otherwise we're reptiles.
And I for one am tired of sharing my world with human reptiles.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Where are all of the SUVs going?
I’ve been ruminating on this for a couple of weeks and I think I’m ready to write about it. I read it in the Business & Farm section of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the July 20th, 2008 edition. I don’t normally read that section, but the title caught my attention: “Traded-in SUVs a hot commodity abroad”.
You can view the first paragraph here:
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/jul/20/traded--suvs-hot-commodity-abroad-20080720/?business/arkansas
The paper wants to charge you $1.95 to read the story online, HOWEVER if you click the “print story” link on the left you can read it for free-go figure, sigh. Not my fault; I didn’t hack crap.
Anyway the basic gist here is that since the USA and other countries are being pinched hard by oil and subsequent gasoline prices we are buying smaller cars with better gas mileage and not the big gas gulping SUVs. Along the same lines we are trading in those big SUVs when we buy the smaller cars. So we have a glut of big cars and SUVs on our used car lots and they are being snapped up for a song by entrepreneurial people (such as the brothers mentioned in the article) and are being shipped overseas “to places such as Middle East, West Africa and Mexico.”
The kicker here is that these places (where these vehicles are being shipped) all pump and sell oil to the rest of the world. Because they do this they can offer subsidies to their citizens so that their gasoline “costs less than 50 cents a gallon.”
I don’t need to remind you what we are paying!
There are two reasons why this should tick you off!
First reason - the environment. Supposedly we are concerned about mileage because of the environment. Better mileage, we waste less gas, fewer hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, better for everyone.
So no matter how many tiny cars we drive, the rest of the pumping world is still driving gas gulpers and globally nothing is being conserved and hydrocarbon production is not being reduced by our green efforts!
Second reason – economy. So the US builds big cars out of pride or gluttony, call it what you want, we still built them, we should get to drive them. There is no lesson being learned here. If we’ve built such behemoths that shouldn’t be driven because they are larger than we need and are wasteful then no one should get to have them. The wastefulness is being prolonged while we get squeezed.
It fries me to know that somewhere else someone who only pays 50cents a gallon for that sweet go-go juice is riding around enjoying my SUV with plenty of leg and head room, while I’m putting along in a little car bumping my knees and head on the roof.
There is plenty of oil out there; we're being played for suckers.
Cya on the road.
-Fat
You can view the first paragraph here:
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008/jul/20/traded--suvs-hot-commodity-abroad-20080720/?business/arkansas
The paper wants to charge you $1.95 to read the story online, HOWEVER if you click the “print story” link on the left you can read it for free-go figure, sigh. Not my fault; I didn’t hack crap.
Anyway the basic gist here is that since the USA and other countries are being pinched hard by oil and subsequent gasoline prices we are buying smaller cars with better gas mileage and not the big gas gulping SUVs. Along the same lines we are trading in those big SUVs when we buy the smaller cars. So we have a glut of big cars and SUVs on our used car lots and they are being snapped up for a song by entrepreneurial people (such as the brothers mentioned in the article) and are being shipped overseas “to places such as Middle East, West Africa and Mexico.”
The kicker here is that these places (where these vehicles are being shipped) all pump and sell oil to the rest of the world. Because they do this they can offer subsidies to their citizens so that their gasoline “costs less than 50 cents a gallon.”
I don’t need to remind you what we are paying!
There are two reasons why this should tick you off!
First reason - the environment. Supposedly we are concerned about mileage because of the environment. Better mileage, we waste less gas, fewer hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, better for everyone.
So no matter how many tiny cars we drive, the rest of the pumping world is still driving gas gulpers and globally nothing is being conserved and hydrocarbon production is not being reduced by our green efforts!
Second reason – economy. So the US builds big cars out of pride or gluttony, call it what you want, we still built them, we should get to drive them. There is no lesson being learned here. If we’ve built such behemoths that shouldn’t be driven because they are larger than we need and are wasteful then no one should get to have them. The wastefulness is being prolonged while we get squeezed.
It fries me to know that somewhere else someone who only pays 50cents a gallon for that sweet go-go juice is riding around enjoying my SUV with plenty of leg and head room, while I’m putting along in a little car bumping my knees and head on the roof.
There is plenty of oil out there; we're being played for suckers.
Cya on the road.
-Fat
Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity
I have always wanted to be an astrophysicists but could never cut the math.
Watch in a bigger format at Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity on Hulu.com
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Apple Software EULA
EULA - End User License Agreement.
I know it's because of their legal dept wanting to keep them out of any and all trouble, but come on. As if...last week I installed iTunes on my iron lung and now my iron lung only breaths me when I play songs I bought from iTunes Store and not my CDs. Or after I installed Quicktime I couldn't get my Air Traffic Control Radar to work, all I could see was dancing hamsters...
Apple's great quote:
APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.
Maybe Quicktime caused the Chernobyl meltdown and Apple wants to make sure they're not liable next time.
I know it's because of their legal dept wanting to keep them out of any and all trouble, but come on. As if...last week I installed iTunes on my iron lung and now my iron lung only breaths me when I play songs I bought from iTunes Store and not my CDs. Or after I installed Quicktime I couldn't get my Air Traffic Control Radar to work, all I could see was dancing hamsters...
Apple's great quote:
APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS, LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES OR OTHER EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF THE APPLE SOFTWARE COULD LEAD TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.
Maybe Quicktime caused the Chernobyl meltdown and Apple wants to make sure they're not liable next time.
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