Great interview

Came across this interview this morning. Some real nuggets of wisdom here, and it's a great read.

Some highlights:

"I have noticed the disappearance of the word 'unhappy' from common usage, and its replacement by the word 'depressed.' While unhappiness is a state of mind that is clearly the result of the circumstances of one's life, whether self-inflicted or inflicted by circumstances beyond one's control, or a mixture of both, depression is an illness that is the doctor's responsibility to cure. This is so, however one happens to be leading one's life. And the doctor, enjoined to pass no judgement that could be interpreted as moral on his patients, has no option but to play along with this deception. The result is the gross over-prescription of medication, without any reduction in unhappiness."

"It is clear to me that people often want incompatible things. They want danger and excitement on the one hand, and safety and security on the other, and often simultaneously. Contradictory desires mean that life can never be wholly satisfying or without frustration ... For people who have no transcendent purpose to their lives and cannot invent one through contributing to a cultural tradition (for example), in other words who have no religious belief and no intellectual interests to stimulate them, self-destruction and the creation of crises in their life is one way of warding off meaninglessness. I have noticed, for example, that women who frequent bad men - that is to say men who are obviously unreliable, drunken, drug-addicted, criminal, or violent, or all of them together, have often had experience of decent men who treat them well, with respect, and so forth: they are the ones with whom their relationships lasted the shortest time, because they were bored by decency. Without religion or culture (and here I mean high, or high-ish, culture) evil is very attractive. It is not boring."

"Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed."

Oh, my, god.

Governor Says Entire City Needs to be Evacuated

Martial Law

Staggering.

Two parishes in lower Louisiana have declared Martial Law. I don't think I can remember when the last time anywhere in the USA has had such a catastrophe that such a decision was necessary.

My best friend lives very near New Orleans. I have not tried to contact him since the hurricane hit, but I really hope he is okay. I am going to call his parents in St Louis soon, hopefully they'll have spoken to him and will know how they're faring where they live.

Here is a link to text updates from the city.

Okay, but how long before the video game?

Check out this model of the Serenity built from LEGOs:

Journalist on acid.

Ok, I could NOT make this up if I tried, but here goes.

Kerry attends funeral with blow-up sex dolls
Senator guest at intimate farewell to gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson
Posted: August 22, 2005 10:45 a.m. Eastern

Former presidential candidate John Kerry attended an intimate and exclusive farewell for gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson, a suicide victim – complete with tributes to drugs and blow-up sex dolls adorning the event.

Thompson's ashes were blasted into the night sky in an explosion, according to reports.

Where to start? Kerry--that's Senator John F'n Kerry, why do we continue to refer to him as a "former presidential candidate"? His presidential candidacy is over--attends a funeral with a blow-up sex doll. Then there's describing anyone as a "gonzo journalist" (yes, I know what the term "gonzo journalism" means, but describing someone as a "gonzo journalist" is just silly, unless you're talking about muppets.). Then, let's be sure to call Thompson a "suicide victim", whatever that is! What was he a victim of? His own death wish? Poor guy, I hope they nail the guy that did it to him. Woops, too late, he saved us the trouble, whew. And next, we have .. "complete with tributes to drugs and blow-up sex dolls" .. tributes to what and what?? Tributes? Someone felt the need to create--not one, but multiple .. tributes, plural--tributes to drugs and blow-up sex dolls? And finally .. they did what with Thompson's ashes?? Blasted them?? With what? The blow-up dolls?

God, you can stop making my enemies ridiculous now! I'm laughing too hard!

And speaking of retribution ..

Busted. Grounded.

One of the funniest things I've ever read on a message board.

Retribution from afar

Act 2
20 minutes later…

<ring>

Ah sweet! That's the same last name as the crazy lady… Unleash the dogs of war!

"Good Afternoon, Government's Agents Office. How may I direct your call?"

"Yes, I'd like to make a complaint about Gamer's Edge. I need to talk to… … the bureau, the bureau of… the bureau of video games and uhm…"

"The Bureau of Video Games and Customer Relations? One moment please. I'll transfer your call."

Gord presses the 5 key on the phone and says:

"Bureau of Video Games and Customer Relations. How may I be of assistance?"

"Yes, I'd like to file a complaint about Gamer's Edge in Penticton! For no reason they were rude to me and refused to rent to me!"

"Wait a minute, aren't you that crazy lady that was down there earlier today? We've heard about you! You slammed your door on your kid. So what, are you retarded by birth or just been beat around the head too much?"

"WHAT?!?!?"

"Seriously, what's with you. When they say the mentally challenged should not procreate, you're the poster child. I can transfer you to that department if you like."

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"I'm sorry, but the law says that if you are on welfare that government agents can treat you however we want because technically, you owe us. Get off welfare if you want to be treated with respect."

"I WANT TO TALK TO YOUR SUPERVISOR!"

"What?" (my god, has she not clued in yet as to what's going on?)

"Put your boss on the phone NOW!"

"One moment please."

(Gord presses the 5 key again for a tone)

"This is the department supervisor."

"Yes, your staff is rude to me!"

"Well, have you ever thought why that might be?"

"What?!"

"Well, look at you. You're a lousy dresser, you're fucking annoying, and you're on welfare because you can't hold a job. How about you just shut the hell up and stop spending my money by getting a job and off of welfare."

<click>

You'd think that they would have hung up a long time back…

And you also think they would never come back. Can you guess what part 3 is? Oh I think you can…

"I hope you're happy"

English is a funny language. It's been around so long, it's picked up a real bevy of idiosyncratic weirdness over the centuries. Take the phrase "I hope you're happy." If you wanted to go up to a person and say, "I hope you're happy," to them, what do you think they would think? Would they accept the words for what they literally mean? Odds are, they wouldn't. Their initial reaction--depending on how the phrase was delivered--would probably be defensive, as though you were accusing them of something. It's as though this plain four word phrase has become a kind of attack rather than a simple well-wishing. The unspoken part is, "... because I'm not and it's your fault." In fact, the phrase is more about what's unspoken--implied--rather than the actual wishing of happiness itself.

As such, it's become almost impossible to say to someone, "I hope you're happy," and actually mean it, without having to come up with another combination of words to say it with.

My child just swallowed a fig. What should I do?

One word: ipecac.

Seriously, better a little purging than a lot of purgatory. Although we don't, strictly speaking, believe in purgatory anyway. But your little rascal is poised on the edge of the precipice. Even if it's too late to save you, it may not be too late to save little Jimmy or Sue. Even if you only suspect your kid ate a fig, it never hurts to induce vomiting.

If you don't have ipecac in the house, the two-fingered method works as well. Make sure your kid understands that it's his own unrighteousness that is hurling forth onto the porcelain rim of the abyss.

FREEDOM

Today I paid off my credit cards!

Chase VISA balance: $0.00
Citibank VISA balance: $0.00
Discover balance: $0.00

That just leaves my car payment as my only outstanding debt that's earning interest. Once that's gone, I'm debt free.

Yesterday I got four checks from my liquidated mutual funds, and together they came out to just shy of a thousand dollars more than what I'd conservatively estimated (see how much better it is to be conservative?). That means that with the credit cards paid off, I can keep $1000 in reserve (as Dave Ramsey suggests), and now I can start saving for some much needed new furniture for my apartment.

When I think about how much money was being sucked out of my paycheck just in interest alone on those credit card balances over the years, I just shudder. With my new little system of tracking my spending and budgeting on the computer, as well as my little emergency fund, hopefully I will be able to put that money where it belongs--in my bank account!

On Copyrights

The US Constitution grants the Congress the power to enact laws to "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." (section 8). Note use of the word "limited". Once an author creates a work, getting paid repeatedly, indefinitely, for that work does not incent him to continue to author. If he can just take his one book (or song or invention or whatever) to the bank for the rest of his and his children's children's children's lives, what motive would he have to continue to produce?

Notice how science and art are both represented here. Consider what would happen if universities treated discoveries the same way the **IAs treated media. Research would be impossible. If no one was ever allowed to build on the research and findings of those coming before them without financially compensating hundreds of other scientists in the process, it would be too cost prohibitive to research anything, and we'd forever be living in the bronze age. Why should it be one way for science and another way for the arts?

Now Disney and the **IAs want copyrights and patents to be enforcable indefinitely, because they don't want to have to create something new (horrors!) which would supplant the revenues lost when their copyright protection sunsets. This does not promote or incentivize new creativity. To the contrary, it shuts the door on it.

Quote of the day

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it. - Voltaire

Bush to Dems: "MOVE ON!!"

The real reason Democrats are so upset about John Bolton's appointment to the UN is in fact because had the appointment gone to a vote, Bolton would have been approved by Senate majority, which is why the Democrats would not let the vote take place. Democrats are upset because they know they were soundly defeated in 2004 and therefore don't have the power and support of the American people they're used to taking for granted. (Read as: being sore losers.)

The reason we vote for Senators is so they can represent the wishes of their constituents. The American public voted for the current Republican majority because we want REPUBLICANS--not Democrats--making decisions and voting with their majorities. Bush knows that this filibuster is the Democrats' way of standing in the way of this country's wishes, so he is doing his job and selecting his representative so he and the Senate can *move on* with the business of running the country. (Funny, seems like I've heard that somewhere before.)

Bush's appointment of Bolton was appropriate and I submit that the majority of citizens in this country are grateful.

Happy birthday to me .. sort of.

August 1 is not my birthday personally, but it is the official birthday of my business, Choreomedia. Today my little enterprise is four years old. I can't say it's where it was supposed to be when I sat down at the beginning and did the business plan, but .. at least it's still alive, kicking and churning out Web pages. I'm not feeling particularly celebratory today, but maybe I'll find a noisemaker somewhere around here and blow it a few times.