Ok, time for some debate and controversy.
Marijuana was made illegal during the reaction to drug use decades ago. It was classified as a "Schedule 1 narcotic". In order to be classified as this, the substance must:
1) Have a high potential for abuse
2) Have no accepted medical use in treatment in the US
3) Have a lack of accepted safety for the use of the substance under medical supervision
Now, we could have a debate on number 1, but I'll concede there's a high potential for abuse. I'm not sure I see how that abuse has near the high level of consequence that a schedule 1 should have, but it really is easy to abuse. (So easy in fact that I think we can play hell ever STOPPING it from being abused)
Number 3? There are no safety issues with Marijuana at ALL, medically supervised or not. Unless you count people that are giving it to 8 year olds, or people that burned up their barcolounger because they fell asleep burning one, Marijuana is one of the innocuous drugs out there.
Now, lets move on to number 2.
I recently, due to my own medical issues, had reason to do some research. I found that there's growing scientific evidence that a chemical in Marijuana (Cannabidiol, or CBD) prevents tumor formation. It also for some types of cancer, seems to be able to attach to the receptors of the cancer cells, and tell them to "suicide". (this isn't far fetched, the body has methods of telling certain cells to kill themselves. It's almost the definition of cancer that thee orders stop working on them). CBD has NO narcotic affects. In fact, it seems to temper the affects of THC, which is the narcotic element of pot.
Of course, recreational users shoot for low CBD, and high THC, because that's the affect they're after. Increasingly however, the big push is for high CBD marijuana, which has a limited recreational appeal, and some very definite and VERY interesting medicinal qualities.
There is also excellent research showing it's very strong medicinal affects on Parkinsons, some types of epilepsy (Cannabis can easily cross the blood/brain barrier), and even weight management and/or diabetes.
For decades we've known the palliative affects Marijuana has on people undergoing Chemo, Radiation, or other harsh medical treatments. What we haven't known until recently is the curative aspects. In fact, there are very convincing annecdotal cases of people that were diagnosed as terminal, and after cannabis oil treatments were completely cured. The doctors found a completely dead tumor when they went in later.
Personally? Well, at the least we need to be researching this. At the least, we need to acknowledge that Marijuana never did fit the definitions for level 1 narcotic, and at this point it probably can only classify as something that might need to be age restricted.
We also need to admit that we are only preventing the people that need it most from using it the way things are. We will NEVER stop or even slow down recreational use. The only people that we're hurting the way it stands are the people that need it medically.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Bi-millenial updates
Wow.
Over 2 years since I posted.
That's gotta be a record level of neglect.
I doubt that anyone that might conceivably be interested in my life is still checking this blog, but just in case...
Just in case there's one die-hard fan that's been re-reading my scant few posts for two years, waiting for me to update them on my life...
Just in case someone has been worrying due to the dire circumstances I was in when last I posted...
Here goes.
I posted about my kidney last time. I did have cancer, they removed the mass and part of the kidney. I've been free of it for 2 years now.
My job was harsh, hard work, and low pay, but I gradually got better at it. I worked hard, and started noticing special attention being paid to me. Eventually I found out that I alone on my shift was accomplishing more than all the other people on my contract put together. That'll get you noticed.
So, they needed a guy to take tickets on the Web farm at Levi's. I sat with the current guy working that position (I was supposed to help him in a junior capacity), and he showed me a few things for about an hour... I went on vacation with my wife (yes I got married), and when I got back?
The guy that worked that contract had rage-quit.
I was stuck. Alone. On a completely new contract that I'd have less than an hour of an introduction to.
I did it though. There were a few hairy spots, but I saved that contract and things were running smooth. My bosses were working VERY hard to get me as large an increase in salary as they could, when I got a call on a job I'd been sneaking around going to interviews about for over six months.
I'd given up, but they hired me. I'm in the networking department of a state wide hospital organization now. For almost twice the salary I was making before.
This means I'm now earning more than I was PRE-recession.
My wife and I moved. We got rid of her old house. It was falling apart, had a creek running out from under it, and was going to fall apart. We got a nice new place with a moderate in-ground pool in the back yard, and are concentrating on enjoying it and keeping the kids from destroying it.
Partially successful on both fronts.
All in all, much better than 2 years ago, but still climbing out of the depths my professional and private life had fallen to.
I enjoy my wife's company. She gives my life purpose. She makes me laugh. I make her laugh. We take care of each other.
When we were all young, in our teens and 20's, we had SO many things we wanted from the person we were to marry...
As far as I can tell, the secret to a happy marriage is to just concentrate on that one sentence. I like her company. We take care of each other. She makes me laugh. I make her laugh.
What else is necessary? If you think more is necessary, you're probably young and you're full of shit.
Not your fault. It goes with your age.
As it is, my wife queries empty air "Who knew that the secret to a happy marriage was to marry the goofiest person I knew?".
Personally I think she's goofier than I am, but would never admit it to herself until she was spending her time with someone that refused to suppress his goofy side...
I'm in IT. IT people refuse to grow up in a lot of ways. We like silly, we like goofy, and we like smart-ass.
Everyone else can get used to it.
Over 2 years since I posted.
That's gotta be a record level of neglect.
I doubt that anyone that might conceivably be interested in my life is still checking this blog, but just in case...
Just in case there's one die-hard fan that's been re-reading my scant few posts for two years, waiting for me to update them on my life...
Just in case someone has been worrying due to the dire circumstances I was in when last I posted...
Here goes.
I posted about my kidney last time. I did have cancer, they removed the mass and part of the kidney. I've been free of it for 2 years now.
My job was harsh, hard work, and low pay, but I gradually got better at it. I worked hard, and started noticing special attention being paid to me. Eventually I found out that I alone on my shift was accomplishing more than all the other people on my contract put together. That'll get you noticed.
So, they needed a guy to take tickets on the Web farm at Levi's. I sat with the current guy working that position (I was supposed to help him in a junior capacity), and he showed me a few things for about an hour... I went on vacation with my wife (yes I got married), and when I got back?
The guy that worked that contract had rage-quit.
I was stuck. Alone. On a completely new contract that I'd have less than an hour of an introduction to.
I did it though. There were a few hairy spots, but I saved that contract and things were running smooth. My bosses were working VERY hard to get me as large an increase in salary as they could, when I got a call on a job I'd been sneaking around going to interviews about for over six months.
I'd given up, but they hired me. I'm in the networking department of a state wide hospital organization now. For almost twice the salary I was making before.
This means I'm now earning more than I was PRE-recession.
My wife and I moved. We got rid of her old house. It was falling apart, had a creek running out from under it, and was going to fall apart. We got a nice new place with a moderate in-ground pool in the back yard, and are concentrating on enjoying it and keeping the kids from destroying it.
Partially successful on both fronts.
All in all, much better than 2 years ago, but still climbing out of the depths my professional and private life had fallen to.
I enjoy my wife's company. She gives my life purpose. She makes me laugh. I make her laugh. We take care of each other.
When we were all young, in our teens and 20's, we had SO many things we wanted from the person we were to marry...
As far as I can tell, the secret to a happy marriage is to just concentrate on that one sentence. I like her company. We take care of each other. She makes me laugh. I make her laugh.
What else is necessary? If you think more is necessary, you're probably young and you're full of shit.
Not your fault. It goes with your age.
As it is, my wife queries empty air "Who knew that the secret to a happy marriage was to marry the goofiest person I knew?".
Personally I think she's goofier than I am, but would never admit it to herself until she was spending her time with someone that refused to suppress his goofy side...
I'm in IT. IT people refuse to grow up in a lot of ways. We like silly, we like goofy, and we like smart-ass.
Everyone else can get used to it.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Well, lovely.
This has been a tough few weeks.
My aunt died. We were never close, most of the family found her to be a royal pain in the ass in fact. Still, she was family, and she showed up to every birthday, every graduation, every holiday, with her check book in hand. She deserves respect, if not affection.
My dog developed a tumor behind her right eye, along with an infection. After struggling with antibiotics for weeks, we had to have the eye removed so they could get at the tumor. The biopsy results aren't in yet, and my poor dog looks very very pathetic.
In the middle of my Aunt's visitation, my insurance company called to tell me that my landlord policy (I rented my old place when I moved in with my fiance) was in trouble because the underwriters did an inspection and found a broken window. I checked on it, it's only a crack in a basement window, and it's been there since I bought the place and they insured it about a decade ago.
A week or two later, I was going through the mail, and found two notices from them saying that my policy had been CANCELLED, they even sent me back a check. Several angry conversations later I was told if the windows were repaired in a week, it would be reinstated. I sent the photos of the repaired windows to them this morning.
Ah, and the final insult. I was having gallstone symptoms. This is odd, since I've had my gallbladder out, but apparently gallstones can still form. After about a week and a half of dealing with them and living on tuna and crackers, I went in for a CAT scan. After that they wanted an MRI. In the middle of this, whatever stone I had dissapeared, but they spotted a 4 cm mass on my right kidney.
I talked to an urologist, 85% of the time, this is cancer.
The good news is that in 90% of these cases, if they successfully remove the mass (NOT the kidney!), the cancer is never seen again.
So, I have surgery (laproscopic) on March 29th. They'll biopsy the mass after they remove it, and if it's cancerous I'll be having 10 years of follow up visits.
My family is full of rediculous optimists, so they aren't making a big deal out of it, but...
Well... 85% chance that I have cancer.
Not a pleasant thought. In fact, considering my life lately, it's hard not to be depressed. Laid off, two years of searching, working at 2/3rds of my previous salary, the only good thing that has happened to me in the last decade has been my fiance. It's hard to keep fighting sometimes.
But I will.
My aunt died. We were never close, most of the family found her to be a royal pain in the ass in fact. Still, she was family, and she showed up to every birthday, every graduation, every holiday, with her check book in hand. She deserves respect, if not affection.
My dog developed a tumor behind her right eye, along with an infection. After struggling with antibiotics for weeks, we had to have the eye removed so they could get at the tumor. The biopsy results aren't in yet, and my poor dog looks very very pathetic.
In the middle of my Aunt's visitation, my insurance company called to tell me that my landlord policy (I rented my old place when I moved in with my fiance) was in trouble because the underwriters did an inspection and found a broken window. I checked on it, it's only a crack in a basement window, and it's been there since I bought the place and they insured it about a decade ago.
A week or two later, I was going through the mail, and found two notices from them saying that my policy had been CANCELLED, they even sent me back a check. Several angry conversations later I was told if the windows were repaired in a week, it would be reinstated. I sent the photos of the repaired windows to them this morning.
Ah, and the final insult. I was having gallstone symptoms. This is odd, since I've had my gallbladder out, but apparently gallstones can still form. After about a week and a half of dealing with them and living on tuna and crackers, I went in for a CAT scan. After that they wanted an MRI. In the middle of this, whatever stone I had dissapeared, but they spotted a 4 cm mass on my right kidney.
I talked to an urologist, 85% of the time, this is cancer.
The good news is that in 90% of these cases, if they successfully remove the mass (NOT the kidney!), the cancer is never seen again.
So, I have surgery (laproscopic) on March 29th. They'll biopsy the mass after they remove it, and if it's cancerous I'll be having 10 years of follow up visits.
My family is full of rediculous optimists, so they aren't making a big deal out of it, but...
Well... 85% chance that I have cancer.
Not a pleasant thought. In fact, considering my life lately, it's hard not to be depressed. Laid off, two years of searching, working at 2/3rds of my previous salary, the only good thing that has happened to me in the last decade has been my fiance. It's hard to keep fighting sometimes.
But I will.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
And so it goes.
Much has happened since my last post.
I'm still employed. It's been a year now. The pay is low, and they expect a LOT of knowledge, and they work your ass off.
Good people for the most part, but it's an outsourcing company. They don't pay well, half the idea behind their existence is that they can provide cheap expertise.
I'm engaged. I'm getting married on March 12th. We've sent the invitations, I'm popping $1k for a suit that I can't afford, and I just paid $160 for a white shirt. I'm no clothes horse, believe me... I'm just hard to fit, and even big and tall shops don't have anything that fails to look like shit. I'm thick chested, and anything I find that fits my chest, hangs off in a huge bag around my waist.
Custom made? Well, J doesn't want to walk down the aisle to marry someone that looks like crap.
The kids are a constant challenge. For someone who has spent his entire life in a warm, comfortable bachelorhood.... Well, lets just say that two teenagers are a bit of an ice bath.
The last six or seven years have been tumultuous for me. Now, coming out of the whole thing I know who my friends are, and even though I'm earning 2/3rds what I used to and am having to rebuild my career at age 51, it's better.
I'm still employed. It's been a year now. The pay is low, and they expect a LOT of knowledge, and they work your ass off.
Good people for the most part, but it's an outsourcing company. They don't pay well, half the idea behind their existence is that they can provide cheap expertise.
I'm engaged. I'm getting married on March 12th. We've sent the invitations, I'm popping $1k for a suit that I can't afford, and I just paid $160 for a white shirt. I'm no clothes horse, believe me... I'm just hard to fit, and even big and tall shops don't have anything that fails to look like shit. I'm thick chested, and anything I find that fits my chest, hangs off in a huge bag around my waist.
Custom made? Well, J doesn't want to walk down the aisle to marry someone that looks like crap.
The kids are a constant challenge. For someone who has spent his entire life in a warm, comfortable bachelorhood.... Well, lets just say that two teenagers are a bit of an ice bath.
The last six or seven years have been tumultuous for me. Now, coming out of the whole thing I know who my friends are, and even though I'm earning 2/3rds what I used to and am having to rebuild my career at age 51, it's better.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Microsoft suxxors
Lest I sound like I hate my new job, I don't.
I actually like my bosses so far, although I saw them fire someone in the first week. It's true he made a major error that cost a bunch of top level executives two days of e-mails at a large company... Still, it's a concern. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes big ones. I don't know if this guy was on thin ice to begin with, or if this is the kind of place that kicks your ass out to save their own the second any mistake is made.
They don't seem like that type, but it's a consulting/outsourcing company. Given the choice between fair and keeping their contract, your ass is out.
If nothing else I can learn some new technology, get some practical experience... I'd rather be a network guy, but this place may force me to go back to being a Microsoft expert.
Microsoft sucks in SO many ways, and Microsoft guys don't get the respect because of that.
I actually like my bosses so far, although I saw them fire someone in the first week. It's true he made a major error that cost a bunch of top level executives two days of e-mails at a large company... Still, it's a concern. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes big ones. I don't know if this guy was on thin ice to begin with, or if this is the kind of place that kicks your ass out to save their own the second any mistake is made.
They don't seem like that type, but it's a consulting/outsourcing company. Given the choice between fair and keeping their contract, your ass is out.
If nothing else I can learn some new technology, get some practical experience... I'd rather be a network guy, but this place may force me to go back to being a Microsoft expert.
Microsoft sucks in SO many ways, and Microsoft guys don't get the respect because of that.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Yes sir, I'd love to eat your crap.
Just back in from a 30 minute walk. Shower done, lunch made, middle age aches stretched out, ready to go.
I got another job. Not a great job, but a job. You don't pass up on a job these days even if it's grunt work when you have 15 years in the industry, even if it pays 2/3rds of what you're used to making.
The weirdest part is the schedule. I work 12 hour days (11 if you count my hour off for lunch). It's 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, then the following week it's the same, but only on Wednesday and Thursday.
No holidays off. I get paid extra on holidays, but if I'm scheduled to work, I work.
It's amazing to me the kind of crap companies routinely expect their employees to accept these days.
I got another job. Not a great job, but a job. You don't pass up on a job these days even if it's grunt work when you have 15 years in the industry, even if it pays 2/3rds of what you're used to making.
The weirdest part is the schedule. I work 12 hour days (11 if you count my hour off for lunch). It's 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, then the following week it's the same, but only on Wednesday and Thursday.
No holidays off. I get paid extra on holidays, but if I'm scheduled to work, I work.
It's amazing to me the kind of crap companies routinely expect their employees to accept these days.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Where's my four leaf clover?
Haven't posted in awhile.
Things have been bad. Employed, unemployed, employed, unemployed...
When I was in High School, I knew someone that had many auto accidents. Every time He'd had a car for awhile, someone would rear end him, or blow through a stop sign to sideswipe him... It was always classified as the other person's fault, and he'd always end up with a better car out of the deal.
I thought, "this can't be random chance, he's doing something, or NOT doing something". I figured there was something wrong with his driving habits to cause so many accidents. The man ended up in the hospital for several of these accidents, so I didn't believe it was deliberate.
I just thought that since I had almost NO accidents and he had so many, there must be some difference, some habit that caused him to be more vulnerable.
Now? I'm not so sure.
My brothers got a nice job right out of college. They work for a big company, they have training and health benefits, they keep earning more and more money, and they get more and more well-off.
Me? I do it all, and I do it well. I work hard, I accomplish everything put in front of me. I just always seem to be in position of losing out. I'm in a department that is closed down, I'm put in a bad political situation that ends up with me being let go for something completely out of my control.
Life isn't fair, I know... But some people seem to be in a continual situation of sacrificial lamb.
It's the worse possible situation. It's frustration, it's the feeling of being in a pit and continually clawing your way up without any purchase. It's being closed in, trapped, not able to get any purchase, and the sheer frustration of knowing how capable you are but not being able to show it.
Maybe... Maybe some people are just born to frustration. If some people are born to situations that allow them clear sailing their entire lives, might not some be born continual no-wins?
I've never known this kind of hell. How many of our most capable people have died in situations of quiet desperation?
Is success luck? It's definitely not simple capability. Maybe it's combination of the two, with luck being the most important.
Things have been bad. Employed, unemployed, employed, unemployed...
When I was in High School, I knew someone that had many auto accidents. Every time He'd had a car for awhile, someone would rear end him, or blow through a stop sign to sideswipe him... It was always classified as the other person's fault, and he'd always end up with a better car out of the deal.
I thought, "this can't be random chance, he's doing something, or NOT doing something". I figured there was something wrong with his driving habits to cause so many accidents. The man ended up in the hospital for several of these accidents, so I didn't believe it was deliberate.
I just thought that since I had almost NO accidents and he had so many, there must be some difference, some habit that caused him to be more vulnerable.
Now? I'm not so sure.
My brothers got a nice job right out of college. They work for a big company, they have training and health benefits, they keep earning more and more money, and they get more and more well-off.
Me? I do it all, and I do it well. I work hard, I accomplish everything put in front of me. I just always seem to be in position of losing out. I'm in a department that is closed down, I'm put in a bad political situation that ends up with me being let go for something completely out of my control.
Life isn't fair, I know... But some people seem to be in a continual situation of sacrificial lamb.
It's the worse possible situation. It's frustration, it's the feeling of being in a pit and continually clawing your way up without any purchase. It's being closed in, trapped, not able to get any purchase, and the sheer frustration of knowing how capable you are but not being able to show it.
Maybe... Maybe some people are just born to frustration. If some people are born to situations that allow them clear sailing their entire lives, might not some be born continual no-wins?
I've never known this kind of hell. How many of our most capable people have died in situations of quiet desperation?
Is success luck? It's definitely not simple capability. Maybe it's combination of the two, with luck being the most important.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Fully Caffeinated
Ok, for those of you that followed my blog in earlier days...
I'm employed again.
I'm working in a Network Operations Center, which is a bit underemployed for me, but in this market I'll take it and be glad of it.
The schedule is NOT happy happy. I'm on second shift, which I can live with. I work Tuesday through Saturday, which is a bit of a pain.
I get NO holidays though, which is a ROYAL pain. I was supposed to host Christmas for the family this year, but if it isn't on a Sunday or a Monday, I'm not off.
Period.
The pay is about 2/3rd of what I earned at my last job, that's going to take adjustment.
Still, it's a delight to be working again, and there's a lot to learn at this place.
The dynamics are amusing and infuriating at the same time, I'm sure I'll be posting more about those.
NOC work is mad and hectic, with periods of pure boredom.
Speaking of which, time for me to head to work. I want to be there at 3:00 today, which is 30 minutes early.
At least I get to wake up slowly with a nice pot of coffee each day. That's a bit of a luxury.
I'm employed again.
I'm working in a Network Operations Center, which is a bit underemployed for me, but in this market I'll take it and be glad of it.
The schedule is NOT happy happy. I'm on second shift, which I can live with. I work Tuesday through Saturday, which is a bit of a pain.
I get NO holidays though, which is a ROYAL pain. I was supposed to host Christmas for the family this year, but if it isn't on a Sunday or a Monday, I'm not off.
Period.
The pay is about 2/3rd of what I earned at my last job, that's going to take adjustment.
Still, it's a delight to be working again, and there's a lot to learn at this place.
The dynamics are amusing and infuriating at the same time, I'm sure I'll be posting more about those.
NOC work is mad and hectic, with periods of pure boredom.
Speaking of which, time for me to head to work. I want to be there at 3:00 today, which is 30 minutes early.
At least I get to wake up slowly with a nice pot of coffee each day. That's a bit of a luxury.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Don't piss off the natives
This lovely statue is of Napoleon's wife, and sits in a beautiful public park a short walk from the pier in Martinique.
It's not very interesting until you hear the back story. You see, it seems Napoleon's wife was a hero to the slaves in Martinique, she is credited with freeing them.
A short time before my cruise, old documents were uncovered that revealed Napoleon's wife had urged they RE-ENSLAVE the people there.
Result?
The blood red paint splattered across the statue, and the head still hasn't been found.
Can't say I blame them.
By the way, that fetching lady in the picture is my neice. I'm so old...
Friday, January 30, 2009
May I sleep now?
I'm just about set. LG&E restored my power last night. Since my neighborhood was down, AND the individual lines to my house had been ripped free by a falling branch, I'd assumed I'd be down for a week or more.
This was the first extended outage I've ever experienced during cold weather. My brother described it as "camping in a really good tent.
My girlfriend ("J") had a generator she owns jointly with her Ex, so we fetched it. Along with a couple of space heaters, we took the edge off the cold. The last few days turned into working to cope, hooking up the generator, finding a secure place to put it, running extensions lines into the house, getting containers to carry gasoline, filling coolers with snow, and emptying my fridge, moving video game equipment and hooking it up so the kids wouldn't too bored, making supper on my grill standing in the snow...
Nice to be lazy again today, but there's something enjoyable about "survival mode".
Meanwhile, everything I did now has to be undone.
This was the first extended outage I've ever experienced during cold weather. My brother described it as "camping in a really good tent.
My girlfriend ("J") had a generator she owns jointly with her Ex, so we fetched it. Along with a couple of space heaters, we took the edge off the cold. The last few days turned into working to cope, hooking up the generator, finding a secure place to put it, running extensions lines into the house, getting containers to carry gasoline, filling coolers with snow, and emptying my fridge, moving video game equipment and hooking it up so the kids wouldn't too bored, making supper on my grill standing in the snow...
Nice to be lazy again today, but there's something enjoyable about "survival mode".
Meanwhile, everything I did now has to be undone.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
My house.
No power.
No heat.
No phone.
No computer.
No Internet.
Just me & my iPhone huddled in front of a gas log.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Mahatma Microsoft
I'm watching "Gandhi".
I've always had a fascination, and a weak spot for Gandhi. He epitomized a level of wisdom I could never hope to approach.
Here, now, with a glass of whiskey in my hand and a pack of cigarettes by my chair, I wonder how we could apply his lessons to today's inequities.
Today, society's inequites are more systemic, more due to how much of influence our corporate structure has, and how little the mass of humanity has. There is not the central power structure that there was in Gandhi's day.
But, the inequities do exist, and they exist in at an ever increasing level.
I'm pondering. I'm pondering how we could apply Gandhi's lessons to today's inequities. I'm pondering what the moral justification of resistance would be.
This is a work in progress of course, but there is one idea that occurs to me.
Today's corporations employ entire buildings full of people to influence our politics, warp our policy to fit their purpose. They do this without paying the price of the results.
Increasingly, I believe that we should limit the rights to free speach to those that have the right to vote. Corporations have no right to vote, so corporations have no right to free speach.
If a company wants to participate in political activities, they they must bear the responsibilities that come with citizenship. We are all responsible for each other at some level. Companies apply the cold equation of profit exclusively to their actions, yet claim the rights of a citizen that lives, works, and sleeps with fellow citizens.
I think the rights of citizens should not be extended to corporations. If a corporation wishes to lobby the government, display political advertisements, influence public policy, then they must meet a minimal standard for social responsibility.
This concept is just the beginning of what should be set of broad changes. Companies need to be responsible at some level for their workers. They need to offer them training instead of demanding more and more educated workers without contributing enough to education in America.
If they wish to not be responsible for the health of their workers, then they need to abide for certain standards to allow their workers to be responsible for their own health.
The list is endless, we are allowing our corporations to rule our society.
There must be a way of combining the lessons of Gandhi to our current social problems.
I'm going to ponder this.
I've always had a fascination, and a weak spot for Gandhi. He epitomized a level of wisdom I could never hope to approach.
Here, now, with a glass of whiskey in my hand and a pack of cigarettes by my chair, I wonder how we could apply his lessons to today's inequities.
Today, society's inequites are more systemic, more due to how much of influence our corporate structure has, and how little the mass of humanity has. There is not the central power structure that there was in Gandhi's day.
But, the inequities do exist, and they exist in at an ever increasing level.
I'm pondering. I'm pondering how we could apply Gandhi's lessons to today's inequities. I'm pondering what the moral justification of resistance would be.
This is a work in progress of course, but there is one idea that occurs to me.
Today's corporations employ entire buildings full of people to influence our politics, warp our policy to fit their purpose. They do this without paying the price of the results.
Increasingly, I believe that we should limit the rights to free speach to those that have the right to vote. Corporations have no right to vote, so corporations have no right to free speach.
If a company wants to participate in political activities, they they must bear the responsibilities that come with citizenship. We are all responsible for each other at some level. Companies apply the cold equation of profit exclusively to their actions, yet claim the rights of a citizen that lives, works, and sleeps with fellow citizens.
I think the rights of citizens should not be extended to corporations. If a corporation wishes to lobby the government, display political advertisements, influence public policy, then they must meet a minimal standard for social responsibility.
This concept is just the beginning of what should be set of broad changes. Companies need to be responsible at some level for their workers. They need to offer them training instead of demanding more and more educated workers without contributing enough to education in America.
If they wish to not be responsible for the health of their workers, then they need to abide for certain standards to allow their workers to be responsible for their own health.
The list is endless, we are allowing our corporations to rule our society.
There must be a way of combining the lessons of Gandhi to our current social problems.
I'm going to ponder this.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
These people are serious
Within minutes of Barack Obama becoming our President, the website www.whitehouse.gov changed drastically.
Check it out. I know enough about what it takes to create a website to know they've been working hard to prepare this in the days since the election.
Check it out. I know enough about what it takes to create a website to know they've been working hard to prepare this in the days since the election.
I love symbolism
I encourage everyone in the world to shave themselves to celebrate being "Bushless".
It's fun, it's hygenic, and it's the kind of message we need to send.
It's fun, it's hygenic, and it's the kind of message we need to send.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Personal responsibility vs. compassion
I watched the movie "Traffic" a few days ago.
It was a great movie, being one that looks at an issue from all sides. There was a scene in which a college student was talking to the "drug czar" for the US.
He was trying to explain the drug traffic in the poorer sections of town. He described the atmosphere in which it happens, the influx of thousands of richer (mostly white) people that pour into these neighborhoods, asking everyone around if they know where there are some drugs for sale.
Imagine living there, with all these rich (by your standards) people asking to buy drugs. Imagine knowing that all you'd have to do is sell some, and you could spend a few hours a day to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars easily.
If that was happening in the richer neighborhoods, how many of those kids do you think would go to law school?
The people that give in and take the easy way out are still responsibilt, but it brings up the concept of personal responsibility vs. compassion.
I was debating declining school grades, and the parent's responsibility with someone once. The man I debated was from another country. I was trying to make the point that the nation was full of single mothers or even full parent households of adults working two, or even three jobs just to keep a roof over them, and food on the table. The more this kind of thing happens, the less likely the parents are to put in the time they should to help and guide their children.
He was all about personal responsibility, saying "it doesn't matter", he knew parents that did without sleep nightly to help their children.
There's a lot of this around, people ignore the societal problems and focus solely on "what they SHOULD have done".
We do horrible things to our young women. We glorify their sexuality, all of society rotates around a pretty young woman.
Later when some of them become manipulative, when they've learned they can behave any way they want to and avoid responsibility by being flirtatious, when they lie, flirt, or even fuck people to get their way, we come down on them hard.
It's true in all of these cases... The assholes deserve it, they fell into a trap. They took the easy way with drugs, let the world keep them from being good parents, or let themselves become social sluts, using and manipulating those around them...
But we also to look however, at how that happens. Some liberals look only at the societal pitfalls, and forgive the individuals because of them.
Some conservatives look only at the personal responsibility, and ignore the societal pitfalls.
We can't ignore either. Assholes (or in the parental cases, the overwhelmed) deserve the results of their actions, we can't save them from that. In the asshole cases, I have no intention of forgiving people for making bad choices.
But we also need to look at why people make these bad choices, why they find the proper actions so hard. We can't ignore the barriers we put in front of people, or the temptations we create for them. Bad behaviour doesn't happen in a vacuum, if we gave people some help, or even a fair shake... If we gave them a SINGLE way out toward a reasonable life, I think we'd find things would get a lot better.
It was a great movie, being one that looks at an issue from all sides. There was a scene in which a college student was talking to the "drug czar" for the US.
He was trying to explain the drug traffic in the poorer sections of town. He described the atmosphere in which it happens, the influx of thousands of richer (mostly white) people that pour into these neighborhoods, asking everyone around if they know where there are some drugs for sale.
Imagine living there, with all these rich (by your standards) people asking to buy drugs. Imagine knowing that all you'd have to do is sell some, and you could spend a few hours a day to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars easily.
If that was happening in the richer neighborhoods, how many of those kids do you think would go to law school?
The people that give in and take the easy way out are still responsibilt, but it brings up the concept of personal responsibility vs. compassion.
I was debating declining school grades, and the parent's responsibility with someone once. The man I debated was from another country. I was trying to make the point that the nation was full of single mothers or even full parent households of adults working two, or even three jobs just to keep a roof over them, and food on the table. The more this kind of thing happens, the less likely the parents are to put in the time they should to help and guide their children.
He was all about personal responsibility, saying "it doesn't matter", he knew parents that did without sleep nightly to help their children.
There's a lot of this around, people ignore the societal problems and focus solely on "what they SHOULD have done".
We do horrible things to our young women. We glorify their sexuality, all of society rotates around a pretty young woman.
Later when some of them become manipulative, when they've learned they can behave any way they want to and avoid responsibility by being flirtatious, when they lie, flirt, or even fuck people to get their way, we come down on them hard.
It's true in all of these cases... The assholes deserve it, they fell into a trap. They took the easy way with drugs, let the world keep them from being good parents, or let themselves become social sluts, using and manipulating those around them...
But we also to look however, at how that happens. Some liberals look only at the societal pitfalls, and forgive the individuals because of them.
Some conservatives look only at the personal responsibility, and ignore the societal pitfalls.
We can't ignore either. Assholes (or in the parental cases, the overwhelmed) deserve the results of their actions, we can't save them from that. In the asshole cases, I have no intention of forgiving people for making bad choices.
But we also need to look at why people make these bad choices, why they find the proper actions so hard. We can't ignore the barriers we put in front of people, or the temptations we create for them. Bad behaviour doesn't happen in a vacuum, if we gave people some help, or even a fair shake... If we gave them a SINGLE way out toward a reasonable life, I think we'd find things would get a lot better.
Friday, January 2, 2009
I'm not LISTENING!!! LA LA LA LA LA!
I have the gift.
Well, I have A gift, and I'm not so sure it's a gift.
I'm a good counselor. People come to me when they have problems, to get support, find a way out, find some comisseration.
I never understood why it seems to be so rare, but it does. It only takes consideration, empathy, a little honesty (in the right places)... You just have to sympathize, tell the other person that it isn't their fault, agree that circumstances dealt them raw hand...
Of course, that alone isn't very constructive, you also have to find ways to show them any way out you may see, while not blaming them. You just use phrases like "Yeah, it sucks that guy/girl/company/tornado did that to you, it's really unfair... You know, if you tried kindness/wacking off less/kissing ass/building a storm shelter, it MIGHT make it better next time. It's that pits that you should have to, but maybe that's the price we pay"...
I've been accused of innapropriate honesty at times in my relationships, but I always saw relationships as being the place where you should err on the side of too much honesty if any.
When someone is upset, going through a crisis, that is NOT the time to be telling them everything you think they did wrong.
It's cruel, callous, and it shows a lack of concern for the person you're talking too. It also shows you don't care enough about them to bother to try to see what they're going through emotionally.
Lack of empathy is the primary symptom that the person you're talking to doesn't give a shit about you anymore. Many people will become unfeeling and cruel long before they actually decide to tell you to fuck off.
That's an odd message isn't it? "I still want to spend time with you, but don't bother asking me to be interested in you, what you're feeling, what's going on, or any of that. I'm just putting in my time so I don't feel bad about myself...".
Classic.
I've seent this kind of thing a thousand times, I've been used as a crisis counselor by damn near everyone around me, and 99% of them are gone the second their problems are gone.
For a long time I told myself I just had to bear it, that this was the price I paid for being the kind of person I wanted to be.
Then I got fed up and hid for awhile, only trying to help those that I truly considered my friends.
Then I found out that even they would do the same thing to me.
I guess I'm back to the original thought, I need to allow this to happen to me, in order to be the kind of person I want to be...
It's impossible not to become jaded, or even suspicious, it's just something you have to fight.
Well, I have A gift, and I'm not so sure it's a gift.
I'm a good counselor. People come to me when they have problems, to get support, find a way out, find some comisseration.
I never understood why it seems to be so rare, but it does. It only takes consideration, empathy, a little honesty (in the right places)... You just have to sympathize, tell the other person that it isn't their fault, agree that circumstances dealt them raw hand...
Of course, that alone isn't very constructive, you also have to find ways to show them any way out you may see, while not blaming them. You just use phrases like "Yeah, it sucks that guy/girl/company/tornado did that to you, it's really unfair... You know, if you tried kindness/wacking off less/kissing ass/building a storm shelter, it MIGHT make it better next time. It's that pits that you should have to, but maybe that's the price we pay"...
I've been accused of innapropriate honesty at times in my relationships, but I always saw relationships as being the place where you should err on the side of too much honesty if any.
When someone is upset, going through a crisis, that is NOT the time to be telling them everything you think they did wrong.
It's cruel, callous, and it shows a lack of concern for the person you're talking too. It also shows you don't care enough about them to bother to try to see what they're going through emotionally.
Lack of empathy is the primary symptom that the person you're talking to doesn't give a shit about you anymore. Many people will become unfeeling and cruel long before they actually decide to tell you to fuck off.
That's an odd message isn't it? "I still want to spend time with you, but don't bother asking me to be interested in you, what you're feeling, what's going on, or any of that. I'm just putting in my time so I don't feel bad about myself...".
Classic.
I've seent this kind of thing a thousand times, I've been used as a crisis counselor by damn near everyone around me, and 99% of them are gone the second their problems are gone.
For a long time I told myself I just had to bear it, that this was the price I paid for being the kind of person I wanted to be.
Then I got fed up and hid for awhile, only trying to help those that I truly considered my friends.
Then I found out that even they would do the same thing to me.
I guess I'm back to the original thought, I need to allow this to happen to me, in order to be the kind of person I want to be...
It's impossible not to become jaded, or even suspicious, it's just something you have to fight.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Do you dream in sci-fi?
People ask if I dream in color. It's hard to say, I'm not very visual in my dreams. There's a roughwork of visions, but I largely dream in feelings, concepts, and emotions.
I woke up one night with a dream banging around in my head, and I actually bothered (for once) to type the story out. I've had many odd dreams, in one I was in the Student Center at my college, hiding in a dark hallway with (believe it or not), Johnny Fever from WKRP in Cincinatti. He was offering me some cocaine coated mixed nuts.
In this dream, I dreamed in Sci-Fi. It's an old plot in an out-space setting (like a LOT of sci-fi), but what the hell? Here it is:
I was part of a travelling colony on an asteroid, with its atmosphere held in place artificially. The colony was small, and it's population held in control with a dowery system. I was young and of marrying age (around 16). I was in love with one girl, and was expected to marry another. The latter was the darling of the colony, everyone loved her, the former was unknown.
An accident involving the close pass-by of a comet occurred. After a few attempts to fix it, the colony lost the ability to retain its air. Older, poorer sections went first, which included my home and the home of the girl I loved. I tried to comfort her, and in the last sections I offerred to push her off the asteroid for a faster death, and so her body wouldn't be destroyed in upcoming collisions, but she said she'd be lonely floating in open space alone.
Somehow I ended up making it out of that section after she died in our bed, and into one of the few richer sections with better air tight systems so the air was still in place for now (although leaking). Here was my fiance (the darling of the colony). She said she wanted to know what it was like to ride horses under an open sun, and the colonists reinflated a small open town square bubble, and used it to show us a movie of a couple riding horses on a beach on a sunny day. She said she wanted to know what it was like to ride a train, and they. dressed up a water supply feed tunnel, and send us around the outside of the asteroid underground in a simulated train ride.
With both of these fantasies having wasted the little extra air the richer section of town had, and with my fiance grateful for the gift given her by the colony's richer members, she decides to return to my room and my bed with me, and die there as long as we are careful to position ourselves with me exactly halfway between her body and the body of my other love, so that anyone in the future that found us wouldn't think she was secondary in her relationship with me.
Possible theme: The difference in attitudes between first discovering the doom and thinking the colony would be completely destroyed (when I thought my first love would be better off a floating corpse in open space), and the end when we feel that the lifeless colony would be discovered, and we were worried about how our bodies would be discovered.
I woke up one night with a dream banging around in my head, and I actually bothered (for once) to type the story out. I've had many odd dreams, in one I was in the Student Center at my college, hiding in a dark hallway with (believe it or not), Johnny Fever from WKRP in Cincinatti. He was offering me some cocaine coated mixed nuts.
In this dream, I dreamed in Sci-Fi. It's an old plot in an out-space setting (like a LOT of sci-fi), but what the hell? Here it is:
I was part of a travelling colony on an asteroid, with its atmosphere held in place artificially. The colony was small, and it's population held in control with a dowery system. I was young and of marrying age (around 16). I was in love with one girl, and was expected to marry another. The latter was the darling of the colony, everyone loved her, the former was unknown.
An accident involving the close pass-by of a comet occurred. After a few attempts to fix it, the colony lost the ability to retain its air. Older, poorer sections went first, which included my home and the home of the girl I loved. I tried to comfort her, and in the last sections I offerred to push her off the asteroid for a faster death, and so her body wouldn't be destroyed in upcoming collisions, but she said she'd be lonely floating in open space alone.
Somehow I ended up making it out of that section after she died in our bed, and into one of the few richer sections with better air tight systems so the air was still in place for now (although leaking). Here was my fiance (the darling of the colony). She said she wanted to know what it was like to ride horses under an open sun, and the colonists reinflated a small open town square bubble, and used it to show us a movie of a couple riding horses on a beach on a sunny day. She said she wanted to know what it was like to ride a train, and they. dressed up a water supply feed tunnel, and send us around the outside of the asteroid underground in a simulated train ride.
With both of these fantasies having wasted the little extra air the richer section of town had, and with my fiance grateful for the gift given her by the colony's richer members, she decides to return to my room and my bed with me, and die there as long as we are careful to position ourselves with me exactly halfway between her body and the body of my other love, so that anyone in the future that found us wouldn't think she was secondary in her relationship with me.
Possible theme: The difference in attitudes between first discovering the doom and thinking the colony would be completely destroyed (when I thought my first love would be better off a floating corpse in open space), and the end when we feel that the lifeless colony would be discovered, and we were worried about how our bodies would be discovered.
Fallible Fathers
My father was the oldest of four children.
I've posted before (before I deleted the blog that is) about the differences between oldest children, and the youngest. Dad was definitely an oldest type. I loved him to death, when I was a pre-schooler, I used to follow him around and imitate him.
He had an "oldest" mindset. There was that calm assurance of his own infallibility, the inability to easily see another point of view...
He was better than most, partly because the free-thinking 60's happened while they were raising kids and watching with alarm what was going on in Vietnam while their kids were approaching draft age. He truly tried to be open minded, and did well for a man raised to admire Bing Crosby.
But, I was a youngest. A lot of us are (by oldest standards) more free thinking, odder, more off-the-wall, and lets face it... Irresponsible (at least at a young age.)
He was ill equipped to handle me. Between his "oldest" mindset, and his 50's upbringing in which the answer to child-rearing problems was just "more discipline", he was pretty much at a loss.
I remember some things that would be called flat child abuse these days, but even then I understood that he loved me and that these incidents happened out of his desperation.
I (of course) blamed myself for everything, that's what "youngest" and introspective types do.
It all worked out, but it took a LONG time for him to understand, for me to stop blaming myself, for him to find different ways, for me to learn how to tell him what I needed to in the proper manner...
All that stuff.
He was fallible, and he tried his best.
I remember I was in college before I ever overheard a conversation between him and Mom that told me he liked me. (I knew he loved me, "like" is a different thing)
My girlfriend has a 13 year old son that is a lot like I was in some ways.
I'm better at handling it than Dad was, but largely because I know what didn't work with me.
I've posted before (before I deleted the blog that is) about the differences between oldest children, and the youngest. Dad was definitely an oldest type. I loved him to death, when I was a pre-schooler, I used to follow him around and imitate him.
He had an "oldest" mindset. There was that calm assurance of his own infallibility, the inability to easily see another point of view...
He was better than most, partly because the free-thinking 60's happened while they were raising kids and watching with alarm what was going on in Vietnam while their kids were approaching draft age. He truly tried to be open minded, and did well for a man raised to admire Bing Crosby.
But, I was a youngest. A lot of us are (by oldest standards) more free thinking, odder, more off-the-wall, and lets face it... Irresponsible (at least at a young age.)
He was ill equipped to handle me. Between his "oldest" mindset, and his 50's upbringing in which the answer to child-rearing problems was just "more discipline", he was pretty much at a loss.
I remember some things that would be called flat child abuse these days, but even then I understood that he loved me and that these incidents happened out of his desperation.
I (of course) blamed myself for everything, that's what "youngest" and introspective types do.
It all worked out, but it took a LONG time for him to understand, for me to stop blaming myself, for him to find different ways, for me to learn how to tell him what I needed to in the proper manner...
All that stuff.
He was fallible, and he tried his best.
I remember I was in college before I ever overheard a conversation between him and Mom that told me he liked me. (I knew he loved me, "like" is a different thing)
My girlfriend has a 13 year old son that is a lot like I was in some ways.
I'm better at handling it than Dad was, but largely because I know what didn't work with me.
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