Mother Fucker still can't pronounce "Nuclear"

[ycartrob]

its not a surprise, the question is why.  so because its not a surprise, is this type of behaviour ok and acceptable in this country? just because things are what we expect doesnt make them right.

is this upcoming war in iran ok because i knew it was going to happen last october?  fuck no.  fuck that.

I didn't say I thought it was right.

So if it's not acceptable, why did it happen? Why do we, as a nation and people, continue to accept the terrbile things that are happening in our name? Why will we accept going into Iran? What will it take for us to react?

These are the questions I struggle with b/c I know I am doing very little about these issues that "bother" me and I know I am one of millions.

What will it take to shake us from this slumber?

TRULY. TRULY WE HAVE BECOME. HATED AND FEARED FOR SOMETHING WE DON'T WANT.
LISTEN. LISTEN. MOST OF US BELIEVE THAT THIS IS WRONG.
YOU ANIMAL. COME ON. WHAT DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF?

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

ah, but united, we are millions strong and can make a difference.  it's simple, really.  

unfortunately, no one can decide on ONE universal truth to rally around that's more important than anything else.  that's why they have the power and the money, because they decided on one goal and stuck with it.  our side is too busy with fighting about what's the most important nit wit cause du jour to really come together and make a difference.

if we could pick one angle and stick with it, there would be no stopping us.  we have the numbers.

[ratsprayer]

ah, but united, we are millions strong and can make a difference.  it's simple, really.  

unfortunately, no one can decide on ONE universal truth to rally around that's more important than anything else.  that's why they have the power and the money, because they decided on one goal and stuck with it.  our side is too busy with fighting about what's the most important nit wit cause du jour to really come together and make a difference.

if we could pick one angle and stick with it, there would be no stopping us.  we have the numbers.

that's so very true in every way.  look at tracy and me, we have a hard time agreeing on anything, but i know we're on the same side.  

my one common goal is to live in a non-fascist country where the will of the common people is put above the will of corporations.  it's broad and fantastical, but no one can argue people and the world itself would be better off if things were that way.  

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

ah, therein lies the rub.

it USED to be that the corporations, while still greedy and determined to make as much money as possible, were held in check by a little thing called REGULATIONS, UNIONS, and public perceptions that prevented them from conglomerating together to become the monsters they are today.  

As soon as it became socially acceptable to plunder pensions, go bankrupt to avoid paying wages, and financially feasilbe to buy off the government to rid themselves of those pesky regulations, that's when the real trouble started.  (circa 1981)  We're in this boat because the referee left the game, and the megacorps are now in charge of everything.

[EC]

ah, therein lies the rub.

it USED to be that the corporations, while still greedy and determined to make as much money as possible, were held in check by a little thing called REGULATIONS, UNIONS, and public perceptions that prevented them from conglomerating together to become the monsters they are today.  

As soon as it became socially acceptable to plunder pensions, go bankrupt to avoid paying wages, and financially feasilbe to buy off the government to rid themselves of those pesky regulations, that's when the real trouble started.  (circa 1981)  We're in this boat because the referee left the game, and the megacorps are now in charge of everything.

And the problem with THAT is that corporations are not people.  They're not even several people.  They're nobody.  They're an entity unto themselves, not unlike robots.  And because there isn't a human being in charge, they aren't responsible for human beings.  This is what is so fucked up.  Human beings, individually, do not, for the most part, do things that are detrimental to other human beings.  (And please go along with me on this, I'm talking about the greatest percentage, not the few people who are insane who do bad things).

Okay, come along with me on this ride that started in my head last night.  I'm on myspace.  I like myspace.  I've broadened my knowledge of musicians, I've got gigs, it's good.  It's all working.  I can see what people are doing via bulletins, and comments, and you can leave messages for people when you like their music, and everybody's on the same level.

And I get these friend requests from people who have 15, 000 friends.  NOT bands, individual people.  My policy on the music site has been to let anybody be my friend who wants to be.  And then things start getting fucked.  I have 14 fucking bulletins from this one girl who is talking about "add this guy, he's a whore", or "get on this whore train", where basically people are just trying to get as many friends as possible.

Why?  That's the first point.  What in the world could possibly make you feel really wonderful about having 15, 000 "friends"?  Does that make your life better somehow?  Is it worth it to be on the computer building your numbers, as opposed to learning something, or checking something cool out?

So now my bulletins are fucked up, because there's pages of them everyday, and it's so frustrating to find the people that I actually want to see.  Same with the dinks who put all that weird sparkly shit all over their page.  You go to check them out and it takes 5 fucking minutes to open, plus you can't do anything in the meantime because your computer's frozen, and there's like four videos and a couple of songs playing ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

This is not a rant about myspace.  I do really dig it.

BUT, here's where this ties in.  It's like greed.  Greed fucks things up.  We are so aware of what happens when things get too big.  How many times do you have to call your phone company before the issue is resolved?  How many cheques get lost in the mail, and how frustrating is it to try and track that shit down?  You call a company and you barely speak to a human being anymore, which is frustrating when you have a question that you don't know if you should be pressing one or five or six for.

We KNOW better.  We're not retarded.  We see what happens.  We know we shouldn't buy stupid hummers.  We know we shouldn't eat too much sugar.  We know we need to chill out on oil.  We know we spend money in ridiculous fashions when we don't need to.  We KNOW better, what is wrong with us?  We're so obsessed with consumption and with more more more.  Why are we like that?

Who feels better when you get to be away from everything for a week?  I do.  Hangin' out at a farm, going for long walks, taking half an hour to pat the dog because it's nice to do that and your head isn't buzzing and reeling from all of the regular stuff.  We have way too much going on, and we need to realize that, really really realize that, and chill out.  

And it's fucking hard.  I had this talk with my Uncle a while back, and we were talking about what would actually need to happen in order to make the world back on track.  And he said, and he was just being honest, "I know that we don't need two SUV's.  But I honestly don't know if I'm willing to give one of them up, because it will make my life harder."

I think the world needs a big glass of rescue remedy and some breathing and stretching.  And we have to really understand why we're making the decisions we are.  If the US (and Canada, and everyone else) stopped using so much oil, oil wouldn't be so expensive and the oil people wouldn't be so powerful.  Just shit like that.  I think we just need to use our conscious minds a little more, and Tracy's quote is right on.

It's so damn easy.  

[Angry Ewok]

"For the foreseeable future, we're going to need oil products because I don't like the idea of hydrogen cars. I'm not sure I want to be cruising around a mall parking lot filled with a thousand mini-Hindenburgs."

- Dennis Miller

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

my sentiments exactly.  i make a conscious effort everyday to spend as much time with amelia as possible, no matter what else is going on.  and no one can profit from that, except for the two of us.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[ratsprayer]

this leans more towards the nature side of things, but...

it is a human mentality to only care about yourself, thats how it is.  hardly anyone can be arsed to stop deforestation or cut back on pollution to save this animal or that animal.  the rain forest is being destroyed at ridiculous levels, and we dont even know a lot of the plants we destroy and how much good they could do.  we're in the midst of the largest extinction of plants and animals since the dinosaurs, and truth is, no one has any idea what the effects of that will be on the world.  we have to respect the actual ground we walk on and the environment around us if we have any hope of treating each other better and making the world a better place in any way.

in this sense, i am a motherfucking hippy.  dance away!

[EC]

this leans more towards the nature side of things, but...

it is a human mentality to only care about yourself, thats how it is.  hardly anyone can be arsed to stop deforestation or cut back on pollution to save this animal or that animal.  the rain forest is being destroyed at ridiculous levels, and we dont even know a lot of the plants we destroy and how much good they could do.  we're in the midst of the largest extinction of plants and animals since the dinosaurs, and truth is, no one has any idea what the effects of that will be on the world.  we have to respect the actual ground we walk on and the environment around us if we have any hope of treating each other better and making the world a better place in any way.

in this sense, i am a motherfucking hippy.  dance away!

I 100% agree with you, except for the assumption that people don't give a shit about their actions.  I think the problem is that people aren't thinking about what they're doing, and I think part of the reason for that is the fact that we've been inundated with stimulus for a long time, and we just kind of coast along the surface of billboards, and tv, and radio ads, and car horns, and and and.  We filter.  That means we become less conscious so that we can survive.  If a person who had never been outside of the woods came into our civilization, they would be so fucked up.  Watch a baby and how a baby looks at stuff.  They haven't got their filters yet.  And the filters are great because they let us survive, but they make us lazy.  I don't think anybody wants the world to turn to shit.  I think people just aren't conscious of it.  They're just not conscious.  To a certain extent, that's the fault of the ridiculous pursuits we've become addicted to.  More breeds more.  BUT, it's also our own faults.  It's not like the answers aren't around us.

But ratsprayer, you're totally right.  In a way, it IS all about nature.  That's kind of the source of everything that is truly important, and we're forgetting that because we hardly even ever see it anymore.

I remember thinking that the reason people in BC were more laid back was because they could see the mountains all the time, even right downtown, and therefore, they were constantly reminded of nature, and that's kind of calming and head-clearing.

Maybe we all need to carry around little stones and flowers in our pockets so that we can touch them during the day and be reminded of things that are important.

heh.  I suppose that's a hippie statement, too.  ;)

[ratsprayer]

and head-clearing.

Maybe we all need to carry around little stones and flowers in our pockets so that we can touch them during the day and be reminded of things that are important.

heh.  I suppose that's a hippie statement, too.  ;)

i carry a piece of flint i gathered from the native american flint pits here in ohio and a chesnut oak acorn.  i also wear patchouli a good deal of the time.   ;) ;)

[EC]

i carry a piece of flint i gathered from the native american flint pits here in ohio and a chesnut oak acorn.  i also wear patchouli a good deal of the time.   ;) ;)

I usually have a stone or two in my pocket.  I used to have a really nice chestnut from my grandparents farm, but it got kind of gross.  I keep a native tool that Mark's dad gave me from his fields by my bed so that I can touch it at night if I can't sleep.  I burn incense, and I like to wear lavender oil.  ratsprayer, you are my friend.  :)  

[sonysucksdonkeydic]

Native Americans had it right.  Respect and worship Mother Earth, and you shall be provided for.  The Indians took no more, used no more and lived harmoniously with nature.  Who the fuck do we think we are, to change, rather not change, but rape  a natural cycle that has been around for millions of years?  Much longer, I may add, than the Exxon Oil Co. and their 37 billion in blood money that they extorted from the world.  Also, those who think that SARS, AIDS, Avian Flu, hurricanes, earth quakes, typhoons etc. are sent from God to punish sinful humans are complete LOONS!  If anything, it's a big FUCK YOU from Mother Nature herself letting us know just how small  we really are.  

[ycartrob]

I love this conversation but don't have time to dig in.

I suggest you rent the movie: The Corporation. (based on the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power.) Or get that book.

http://www.thecorporation.com/index.php?page_id=2

Actually, corporations do have some of the same rights as humans do. The movie goes into detail about how these rights emerged and have aided in the corporate run country we live in.
(example:  The law typically views a corporation as a fictional person, a legal person, or a moral person (as opposed to a natural person); United States law recognises this as corporate personhood. Under such a doctrine (obviously a legal fiction), a corporation enjoys many of the rights and obligations of individual persons, such as the ability to own property, sign binding contracts, pay taxes, have certain constitutional rights, and otherwise participate in society. (Note that corporations do not possess all the rights appertaining to individuals: in most jurisdictions, for example, a corporation cannot become a citizen and vote.))

[ratsprayer]

Native Americans had it write.  Respect and worship Mother Earth, and you shall be provided for.  The Indians took no more, used no more and lived harmoniously with nature.  Who the fuck do we think we are, to change, rather not change, but rape  a natural cycle that has been around for millions of years?  Much longer, I may add, than the Exxon Oil Co. and their 37 billion in blood money that they extorted from the world. Those who think that SARS, AIDS, Avian Flu, hurricanes, earth quakes, typhoons etc. are sent from God to punish sinful humans are complete LOONS!  If anything, it's a big FUCK YOU from Mother Nature herself letting us know just how small  we really are.  

i like the way you think, friend.   :)

[tomEisenbraun]

Native Americans had it right.  Respect and worship Mother Earth, and you shall be provided for.  The Indians took no more, used no more and lived harmoniously with nature.  Who the fuck do we think we are, to change, rather not change, but rape  a natural cycle that has been around for millions of years?  Much longer, I may add, than the Exxon Oil Co. and their 37 billion in blood money that they extorted from the world.  Also, those who think that SARS, AIDS, Avian Flu, hurricanes, earth quakes, typhoons etc. are sent from God to punish sinful humans are complete LOONS!  If anything, it's a big FUCK YOU from Mother Nature herself letting us know just how small  we really are.  

You do realize that sane Christians don't believe that, though, right? The whole molarchy of all the things you mentioned being punishment for sinners. It's a recourse from what's been giong on in the planet. I don't knwo how directly related the hurricanes were to our messing with the eco-system, but I'm very sure it's probably related. Anyone close-minded enough to say that those disasters happened as a punishment for sin is pretty off.

[ratsprayer]

You do realize that sane Christians don't believe that, though, right? The whole molarchy of all the things you mentioned being punishment for sinners. It's a recourse from what's been giong on in the planet. I don't knwo how directly related the hurricanes were to our messing with the eco-system, but I'm very sure it's probably related. Anyone close-minded enough to say that those disasters happened as a punishment for sin is pretty off.

ill speak for myself and say that mother nature is my god, not jesus, or god, or what the fuck ever.  if you follow that belief system, it all makes sense.  i dont think mother nature is punishing us for sin.  its the way of the world, if you fuck with the earth, the world, mother nature, shes going to fuck you right back.  not specifically like striking you with lightning, but an overall turbulent world is going to exist.  christians just use god as an easy person/thing to blame instead of truly going out there and taking responsiblity for their actions.  its easy to say, well this is god's way instead of truly being examining the intent and reason behind things happening.  

[ratsprayer]

acutally, i dont think a majority of the natural disasters and things like that are punishment for sin, just to clarify.  i would say that im an environmentalist, but i dont believe in global warming, in the classic sense.  yes, i know the world is getting hotter, but people have to realise we're only 10,000 years out of the last ice age, and in a non-chrisitan mind, people will know the earth is billions of years old.  thats not even a split second in the world's time.  of course the earth is getting warmer because  we're still gaining back what was lost in the last ice age.  i do believe some of the wicked weather is a sort of karmic (i dont believe in karma, but its the easiest way to explain it) force wrought up on us for our actions.  the place where im sitting now was the bottom of a warm shallow sea 350 millions years ago.  whats to say that couldnt happen again?  we only started keeping accurate weather records 70 to 150 years ago, so we have no idea if the 2005 hurricane season was really ridiculous, or if something like that happens every 100 or 200 years on a normal cycle.  

[sonysucksdonkeydic]

The refference to God encompasses pretty much all religion not just Christianity.  To pigeon hole Christians would be absolutely close-minded of myself, and I would be no better than anyone else taking up residence in houses made of glass with a mad addiction to throwing stones... As far as I'm conserned, how people want to worship is their own business.  It's when fundamentalism and violent tendancies come into play that it becomes truly a drag.  Let's not kid ourselves, Christ, much like Smokey, was a pacifist...  AWW fuck it dude,  why can't we all just go bowling???

[ycartrob]

however, as screwed up as we are, we have come a long way in the past 150 years. (no more slavery, women suffrage, gay liberation, equal rights, etc...). Granted, we have a long way to go, but to compare how things were and how they are now, I'd say now is a lot better. people used to get shot and hung for being a certain race or espousing religious beliefs.

I believe weather does cycle and has very little to do with God, punishment and/or karma.

Personally, I feel I am being punished for almost ending the 3rd winter in a row without significant snowfall.

[ratsprayer]

Personally, I feel I am being punished for almost ending the 3rd winter in a row without significant snowfall.

fuck yeah, im with you on that.  this has been the most ridiculous january i can recall in my 26 years.  sure it will go from 50 degrees to 25 in one day, but the only precipitation we get is rain.  i think weve gotten about 3 1/2 inches of snow since the cold season started, and 2 inches of that was from one "storm".  of course last year, we had devastating ice here, something like 2 or 3 inches of ice, and soooooo many trees around here were just ripped from the ground.  i dont like, ice, but a few 8 inch snow storms over the winter would be nice.