Category Archives: Politics
Why Problems such as Abortion, Global Warming, Wealth Distribution, and Many Others are far from Being Solved
Well, there are indeed a wealth of problems:
Abortion
Global Warming
Wealth Distribution
Women being unequal to men
Censorship
Birth Control
Existence of God
Life Support
And anything else you can think of
In any case, it’s blatantly obvious why I’m composing this article. Because a writer possesses a duty to write on subjects of great controversy in our society as to attract the public’s eye, thus people will agree or disagree but either way the writer achieves what he so cleverly desired: to obtain publicity for his piece and stir things up a bit more, causing a ripple effect. This, my friends, is a very diminutive explanation as to what a writer attempts to gain from writing; that and the pleasure of writing, of course.
So you’re asking by now, “What’re you getting at?” Well here’s the gist, these issues (as some consider them) are light years away from being solved because it’s all about moral OPINION. And as much as I believe that individuals have the right to express their opinions, they belong nowhere in the “real world.” One may say, “Abortion is wrong because only God is allowed to take a life,” and another may counter-argue with, “It really comes down to each individual who decides to do it or not do it.” Well, it’s a long line of opinions, and no one can get anything done with mere beliefs. There has to be evidence, persuasion.
Everything goes hand-in-hand, and so if one were to argue that abortion is the work of the Devil, because God would never permit such a malevolent act, then one has to prove the existence of God. And even that, to this day, is debatable. What your religious inclinations are I have no interest in; what I’m simply attempting to state is that there isn’t concise evidence as to whether or not God(s) exist(s). And then scientists come in and say it was the Big Bang, and then various religious folk come in and say it was God and attempt to give reasons, and both sides war over who is the victor, the correct one. The truth of the matter is that there is no victor, because there is a lack of evidence. Now, if Jesus came from the clouds and walked on water and transformed it into wine afterward, then you’d bet your sweet ass I would bow down and worship him.
That hasn’t happened up until now, so I remain skeptical. It’s the same with everything else; it all boils down to morals. Some say global warming is caused by us, the inhabitants not taking proper care of our Mother, but some scientists have theorized that due to global warming we’ve prevented a mini-ice age from dooming us all! (By mini I mean a couple thousand years) Others are also attempting to relate the peak of the periods in which the Sun ejects sun spots and relate that to global warming: the highest period of sun spots results in much higher temperatures, basically. They have evidence, but is it enough to prove it? The answer is no, and whatever you believe in, make sure to stick with it because no one is really right (so far).
One thing I must mention though, is that people should mind their own business. Whether or not someone gets an abortion or recycles, or is richer than you, or has a different religious denomination than yours, just leave that person alone. You have your beliefs and they have theirs; you believe yours are right and vice versa. Don’t mistake your duties as a member of society with a false duty to “save” individuals from whatever you believe in, that a person is living a misconstrued path and he should follow yours because yours is “right.” No one likes an over-exaggerative, bible thumping bigot, so piss off and let others be. Of course this is just my moral opinion, so you shouldn’t really listen to me, either. He he.
In any case, comment and share your mind (there’s me doing my job as a writer).
Take a Couple of Minutes to Protect Your Rights
If you haven’t heard about ACTA, you’ve obviously been cut off from the world with no interaction whatsoever. However if this is the case, let me clarify: ACTA, in essence, will censor the Internet, and will prohibit many websites such as Megaupload.com (which has already been shut down, FYI) and will not allow you to exercise your basic human right to view the internet without governmental interference. If you do truly care about your rights, please sign this petition on the official White House website that tells government officials that the people do not wish to be censored.
It honestly takes a couple of minutes of your time, and I promise you that down the road that one e-signature will be worth your weight in gold when you are allowed to exercise your rights freely.
I also have a few other links that I will be posting below, which all relate to Anonymous or your rights in some way. Anonymous fights for your rights, which are more valuable than anything else, because you cannot enjoy life without them.
If you’re unsure of who Anonymous is, then I, once agian, assume that you’ve been living somewhere in a dark cave that has no access to the outside world (only a joke). Here is a WikiLink that roughly explains what Anonymous is. I also recommend that you scavenge for more Youtube videos and perform more Google searches, while the law still allows it…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)
Very true and reliable source for Anonymous news:
http://youranonnews.tumblr.com/
Video showing that Anonymous (and the people) are a force to be reckoned with:
Dear PIPA and ACTA, I Hate You
Piracy is an enormous problem, without a doubt. So I’m just going to jump into things right off the bat and begin by stating something that I haven’t heard anyone say so far regarding PIPA and ACTA: There are numerous other problems that are exponentially worse. Sure, piracy is a crime, but if it gets “omitted,” will that change the world for the better? I can, off of the top of my head, dish out a list of better causes that drops to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
1. Solve world hunger
2. Shelter the homeless
3. Solve global warming issues
4. Stop aids
5. Stop breast cancer
6. Stop any disease
7. Increase literacy rates
8. Stop oil starvation
9. Population control
10. Solve poor/rich distribution of wealth
This, I will not deceive you, is a list conjured from a pile of rubbish I thought up in thirty seconds. Although all of the above can be debated widely, the point is nonetheless clear: THERE ARE NUMEROUS AMOUNTS OF GREATER PROBLEMS THAN PIRACY!
Now, let me begin with the comparisons. There is a vast array of countries that prohibit piracy, and America is one of them (obviously). Now, my question to you, the reader, is “what is the only major country that piracy is not frowned upon?” Allow me to give you a hint or two: It’s a world superpower, it’s located in Asia, and over 95% of the goods sold in America derive from there. That’s right, you’ve guessed it! China!
Amazingly, real copies of things are harder to find than burnt ones! If one were to walk into a video store and attempt to browse their selection, you could find any movie without a doubt. Why? Because everything is burned, my good friend! Every movie you could possibly imagine, burned on a previously blank DVD that is now titled with a sharpie. Same goes for video games, programs, and just about any other form of data. What’s more amazing is that if the price is put into equivalent of the United States economy, the average movie would only cost you a whopping fifty cents! That’s right, the latest and greatest for only half of a dollar. Prices vary depending on how big the file is and how difficult it was to burn; still, the most expensive piece of data (if applied to our economy, once again) would be no more than five dollars.
Now, could you even possibly imagine how excellent it would be if you were only asked to dish out fifty cents for the newest blockbuster hit? Well I’d say that you don’t need to pirate whatsoever, because data doesn’t cost ridiculous amounts. Doesn’t it chafe you at least the tiniest bit knowing that a Chinese citizen only spends eight minutes out of his minimum-wage paycheck to purchase the newest release while you work for three plus hours to buy the “original” copy of that same exact movie? I assume it does. And the list doesn’t end there! Xbox 360 games, PS3 games, PC games, all programs, operating systems, and just about anything else you can imagine, all for under five dollars.
China, considered to be one of the most communist and controlled countries on Earth, condones piracy while America, said to be one of the freest and most prosperous countries in the world, does not? My fellow reader, if there is one thing I ask of you it is that you at least consider the possibility of betrayal by the American system and that you will also consider making a stand for yourself.
Long live free-world.
Debatable Subjects You Shouldn’t Stick Your Nose In
Abortion
Everyone has their opinions about abortion; it’s a touchy subject. But nonetheless, it is a subject that most people would not like for others to get involved in, speaking of those that are going through with the procedure. If I were a female that was getting the procedure done, I’d already feel bad about it. I wouldn’t need any protesters there, telling me that abortion is bad. My day is a horrid one as it is without you screaming like a lunatic outside of the abortion clinic.
Read the rest of this entry
Nation States: A very simple but fun online political simulation game
[Note: This review was written by Adrian, the Freeware Elite. Visit his tech blog at: Freeware Elite.com]
Version Tested: 1.0 (final version)
Description: NationStates is an online political simulation game that is totally free, unlike Soccer Manager in which you can buy gold accounts. You can create different nations with strange prefixes (Republic, Dominion, People’s Republic, Most Serene Kingdom, etc.) and manage them through your browser.
There is also something called the World Assembly, which is similar to the United Nations, but has a whole lot more countries (around 11000) and different “regions” which can be freely chosen. However, the World Assembly membership is totally voluntary. Here are some more notes on this online game:
Staying “off the grid” [volume.2]
As my intentions were for the second volume of Staying “off the grid”, I would like to present to you part of the inspiration for the interest in this lifestyle: 30 Days by Morgan Spurlock, and in this episode, 2 big time “waste consumers” live in a small off the grid experimental area with other people who are accustomed to living off the grid. Whether or not you agree with the lifestyle, the show itself is very entertaining, and offers things other than how to live an off the grid lifestyle. Please watch:
This was the ONLY place I could find this video, so for the MySpace haters out there (you know who you are 😉 it’s ok.) try to grin and bare it. You don’t need a MySpace account to watch, this is a direct link to the video page. Enjoy!
God speed, and Best Wishes.
¥
Staying “off the grid” [volume.1]
We all need a Social Security number, but who said we actually have to use it?
If you’re unsure what living “off the grid” refers to, think of M. Night Shymalan’s The Village. Complete disconnection from the rest of the world, especially corporations and the government. That’s true living off the grid, however, today that’s near, if not impossible for almost everyone, so I’ll bring you monthly tips on how to keep yourself as best off the grid as possible.
What’s the benefit from staying “off the grid”? Hopefully you’ll find your own personal reason(s) as you read through these posts. I can think of one thing that most of us can enjoy with little to no fear of having a shaded knock at our doors.
First, the basics;
Before I begin, I want to say: stop, using, Google. They index everything you search, and while it may be anonymous, if you have to use it, do it at a library.
- Financial: No checks, no credit cards. Green = good, pay for everything in cash and change only. Don’t get a bank account, get a piggy bank. Also, loans or anything that require your information to truly optional places of financial standing are something you should avoid. Save your money and store it securely.
- Security: Invest in a good ol’ fashioned Louisville Slugger, not an alarm system. Some alarm companies (Brinks, ADT, not necessarily them however) have the capability of monitoring the activity of their systems without any malicious activity having to go on, not to mention that’s another place where some of your most sensitive information goes. Look at the bright side, an alarm system offers no physical defense. Baseball bats, now, that’s another story. Be creative with a homemade alarm system. Get in the green mentality and recycle those noisy soda cans in a unique way.
- Health: This one’s tough. Hospitals are nice, but if you can manage to find the right free clinic and take good care of yourself, you won’t have to give anything more than your name and a place for them to send the bill, which brings me to my next point.
- Mail: Get a post office box, and have ALL of your mail go to that. An average post office box costs a little over $100 a year. Not bad at all for personal security. Not to mention any spam that you catch is diffused by the simple change of your box number, instead of having to move.
While that may be a short list, it takes a good effort to implement into your life. Please comment on this post with your experiences or if you have any suggestions.
[ Source: experience ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
¥
Brain Train. [part 2]
Briefly, I would just like to apologize for being absent last week. However, due to the events I promise you better information than what was available last week.
Also, I have two shout outs: One for all the Indy fans out there! I hope you all enjoy the movie today (or last night) as much as I’m sure I will this weekend. Secondly, a dedication to a very special someone who has loyally read my articles and grown to become one of the single most important things in my life. You know who you are. : ) Thank you for everything.
On to this week in That’s GN:
Have you ever done something, and later you realize you have no idea why? This is commonly dubbed as an “impulsive action” or usually something you do that you “didn’t think about”. How would you like to be in better control of, not only your impulses, but know how to tap into the impulses of others?
You have three brains, similar to what we discovered last week. What we’ll talk about this week is the survival part of our brain, that controls involuntary actions like breathing and our heart beat.
There are 6 stimuli, or, “attractions” that need to be understood about our “old brain”. It has been dubbed the old brain since every living creature requires it, and in fact has it, to sustain their life. The other 2 brains we as humans possess, many other mammals and creatures do not. Let’s divide these stimuli into points:
1: Self centered – To illustrate, please watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–Fwjtd_KxI
This is an example of the old brain lacking communication with your other brains, thus working on instinct rather than incorporating and reason into the decision. Thus the humor of the commercial, since anyone in their right mind would make a different decision.
2: Contrast – Our old brain easily picks out differences, or contrasts such as night and day, near and far, black and white.
3: Tangible – Things we can touch and feel whether it be physically or something we perceive to be real, despite how unrealistic it is to our minds (in other words by sight), it can appeal to us. Here’s another commercial that will give you an exaggerated idea of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67MuBNnJC60&NR=1
While we know it’s (most likely) impossible to get the strength to push a car over a cliff from an energy bar, the point is well made, that this energy bar will give you a very good dose of energy. Instead of telling the consumer it does, they make the idea tangible by appealing to your tangible senses.
4: Beginnings and Ends – Please read this passage out loud:
“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”
How long did it take you to read that? Surely not very long compared to if it was unscrambled. In addition to this point, YOU MAY NOTICE THAT IT’S PROBABLY EASIER TO READ NON-CAPITALIZED SENTENCES SINCE CAPITAL LETTERS ARE NON-FEATURELESS BLOCKS yet sentences with letters having more variety in ascending and descending fashion are easier to differentiate between letters.
5: Visual – Aristotle said the mind needs an image to think. This is fundamentally entirely true. You can first think of when we hear a loud crash, you might think someone is breaking into your house. You naturally visualize on impulse someone breaking into your house, so you think of that. When we see an image, a split second process occurs.
To explain, there are actually two reactions that occur, and each follow a separate path through your brain. Both paths start at the thalamus where they split. The faster reaction path goes to the amygdala which specializes in reacting and triggering what you would consider the emotional fear. The second path travels to the cortex first, where the information received is analyzed using information from the other parts of the brain, then to the amygdala. The first, faster path produces an immediate “instinct” like reaction 250 times faster than the second path, which determines whether or not the reaction is actually needed. In this example, the loud crash could be a harmless cat, instead of a robber as our immediate reaction might tell us.
Even though the reaction differences are so fast, 250 times is still much faster. Coupled with that reaction speed, once an emotion is turned on, it’s difficult for the cortex and your reasoning to turn it off, so fishing for this sense makes your “hook” difficult to unhook.
6: Emotion – Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on 9/11? For the more experienced audience, what about Apollo 13 or Kennedy’s assassination? I remember where I was and what my family said exactly during the morning of 9/11. Our old brain makes associations with emotion. Very few of us weren’t heavily impacted by 9/11, and most of us probably remember exactly what was happening when we actually heard the news, not necessarily when it actually happened.
—–
Whether your talking to someone, giving a sales pitch, or even picking someone up, keeping in mind these 6 stimuli will give your message more attraction to that instinctual part of your brain. Why is that such a big deal? When something appeals to your involuntary senses, it makes more sense to your voluntary senses to move forward or progress in that direction; it makes it more reasonable to come to an acceptance of it.
[ Sources: http://www.neuromarketing.com ; Entrepreneur.com – Is there a buy button? Inside the brain. ; Serendip.BrynMawr.edu – The Role of the Amygdala (paragraph 4) ]
God speed, and Best wishes.
¥
Legally Ludicrous.
A close relative of mine recently found 2 interesting news reports in a nearby paper:
———-
[to protect the identities of those involved, substitute names will be used. use your sources to find them if you need to]
APRIL 10 – “John Doe, 17, [Town], was charged with burglary and theft on April 3.
On Aug. 11, 2007, [Town] police received a report that [Business], on [Street] in [Town], had been broken into and that an undetermined amount of cash had been stolen.
On further investigation, police found that the boards over an old window had been pried off.
On Nov. 29, 2007, Detective Sgt. [Sergeant] interviewed [John Doe] who reportedly admitted to breaking into [Business] and taking about $30 from the cash register.
He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.”
———-
Here is a report from a newspaper in a next door city:
[again, the names have been changed]
APRIL 17 – “A [City] man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sexual assault of an 8-year-old girl.
[Offender], 33, formerly of [Address], was convicted of one count of first degree sexual assault of a child after a February jury trial in front of [County] Circuit Judge [Judge].
At that trial, [Offender] was found not guilty of charges of second-degree sexual assault of the same child.
At the April 1 sentencing, [Judge] also ordered eight years of extended supervision.
The assault of the girl took place in [Different City] in October 2000.”
———-
One wanted probably just wanted a video game. The other, well… And both get the same sentence.
Right now I’m writing a 12-page research document on similar, ridiculous incidents, however, regarding file sharing, the RIAA, MPAA, etc. Its purpose is to inform and open the minds of people with influence who are either out of control, like in this situation, or people who are uninformed. We all know how crazy the RIAA and MPAA are, as well as their supporters (includes some politicians; we love you Lieberman!……….)
I urge each and every one of you – do not make uninformed votes, write to your governors, make your voice heard.
“A water drop is little on it’s own, but without every single drop, there would be no water.”
Write to Your Senators Opposing Telecommunication Company Immunity!!!!
This morning, a bill that would allow telecom companies to legally spy on us without our knowing and give our information (without a warrant) to the government came to the Senate floor. Unfortunately, the bill was voted for advancement. However, all is not lost. Some Senators voted for advancement so that they could criticize it and amend it. Please, I implore you, write to your Senators via the EFF ( http://www.eff.org/showdown ) and tell them that you want them to vote against this bill. If this gets passed, it will set a dangerous precedent for future situations regarding executive power. Help keep our country a democracy.
Welcome to the Underground. 