A vote for change

An open letter to the really really rich who support Republicans in general.

Thanks for trashing Hillary for 30 years, for grabbing every bit of increased income over the last 30 years, 

for funding the Tea Party, for gerrymandering and stuffing state houses of government with unflinching 'conservatives'.

Welcome to chaos. The deplorables are revolting. 

The misogynists "won", everyone lost. 

I despair for the future of the finest social experiment in history*.

Frish

* Truth not much stranger than fiction...

Found this today

http://blog.oregonlive.com/environment_impact/2009/07/carbon%20legacy.pdf

Pretty dense article, science wise, but 

LOOK AT TABLE 3, PAGE 18 TO SEE WHAT CHILDREN DO TO THE CARBON EQUATION.

Found that link in this article, that discusses having fewer children.

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/18/479349760/should-we-be-having-kids-in-the-age-of-climate-change

Some good thoughts there.  Better than usual anyway.

Most Frightening Reality Show on TV

Today was the second day of the 2016 Republican Party Convention in Cleveland.

Copied the following from someone's reaction to the event, on a comment thread.

The "her" in this case is Hillary.

Having the audience subsequently chant "lock her up" was indeed the height of an ignorant mob in action and would have been hysterical if it wasn't the most frightening reality show on television.

Why I believe what I do. And, the purpose of life.

I was asked recently why and/or how I came to believe what I do. I suppose first, one must explore what I believe.

I believe in nothing supernatural. Hence, I am a Bright, see www.the-brights.net.

I have a degree in Archaeology and have a fairly good grasp of technology and history, our momentum and the kick we've given to the environment thanks to CO2 emissions, will cause "havok" in Earth's climate for many centuries to come.

We have yet to see any "Real" weather activity, thanks to the inertia of atmosphere and ocean to absorb some of what we've done, but we've nudged them and now they're moving, and nothing can keep them from going where they wish.

They just might not have room for us to be around anymore!

We have ALREADY done enough to set the systems off kilter just so that conditions on the planet will no longer support human life, REGARDLESS of any actions we take to stave off the inevitable...

I believe that having children is immoral given the current state of the world. Hence I am a VOLUNTEER in the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement www.vhemt.org.

I believe that our thoughts and our mind and our body and our brains are all one single solitary thing. There is no "soul" or "life essence" that somehow transcends our lifetime. Death comes at the end. Cessation. Finality. Nothing.

Ashes to ashes as it were.

The sooner all learn this, the less fantasy and faithfulness will blind the ignorant, and true human progress can be obtained.

Think about how much money could be saved if no one contributed one dime to religious organizations that promise an afterlife?

 There is no afterlife, no matter how much you want there to be one, and no matter how good you are in this life.

The conditions for life were already in place when the solar system and Earth formed. Life is the inevitable outcome of the chemistry that naturally occurred, given those initial conditions. There is no other explanation necessary, and the proof is that we are here.

If you think that each individual is somehow "special", well we certainly are, however, we are also part of the entire web of interconnections that is life on Earth.

The nature of life is to exploit energy resources encountered in the environment. Some life forms inhabit "black smokers" at the bottom of the sea, and get their energy from chemical reactions other than photosynthesis.

Most everything on the surface is dependent somehow on photosynthesis to obtain sunlight energy to drive the chemistry that supports our existence.

Each species occupies an energy niche where they, as a whole and overall, are the most fit individuals to obtain that particular energy. When that isn't true, they will go extinct, or evolve to obtain energy from a less competitive or more available source.

Humans have obtained a degree of separation from natural systems. This stems from our "Culture" in the Anthropological sense. It is all behaviors we do that are not inherited per se, along with the technology to support our culture.

Language may be the main culprit if we look back as to what drove humanity to be "outside of nature".

That about sums it up.

Except, life, all of it, and overall, exists to digest the Planet Earth, eating up all available chemical and light energy possible.  Any individual species is just on a continuum of other species, taking up an 'energy niche'.

So, as we as individuals, as a species, and as life, eat and shit, that is the purpose of life.

Why I believe what I do. And, the purpose of life.

I was asked recently why and/or how I came to believe what I do. I suppose first, one must explore what I believe.

I believe in nothing supernatural. Hence, I am a Bright, see www.the-brights.net.

I have a degree in Archaeology and have a fairly good grasp of technology and history, our momentum and the kick we've given to the environment thanks to CO2 emissions, will cause "havok" in Earth's climate for many centuries to come.

We have yet to see any "Real" weather activity, thanks to the inertia of atmosphere and ocean to absorb some of what we've done, but we've nudged them and now they're moving, and nothing can keep them from going where they wish.

They just might not have room for us to be around anymore!

We have ALREADY done enough to set the systems off kilter just so that conditions on the planet will no longer support human life, REGARDLESS of any actions we take to stave off the inevitable...

I believe that having children is immoral given the current state of the world. Hence I am a VOLUNTEER in the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement www.vhemt.org.

I believe that our thoughts and our mind and our body and our brains are all one single solitary thing. There is no "soul" or "life essence" that somehow transcends our lifetime. Death comes at the end. Cessation. Finality. Nothing.

Ashes to ashes as it were.

The sooner all learn this, the less fantasy and faithfulness will blind the ignorant, and true human progress can be obtained.

Think about how much money could be saved if no one contributed one dime to religious organizations that promise an afterlife?

 There is no afterlife, no matter how much you want there to be one, and no matter how good you are in this life.

The conditions for life were already in place when the solar system and Earth formed. Life is the inevitable outcome of the chemistry that naturally occurred, given those initial conditions. There is no other explanation necessary, and the proof is that we are here.

If you think that each individual is somehow "special", well we certainly are, however, we are also part of the entire web of interconnections that is life on Earth.

The nature of life is to exploit energy resources encountered in the environment. Some life forms inhabit "black smokers" at the bottom of the sea, and get their energy from chemical reactions other than photosynthesis.

Most everything on the surface is dependent somehow on photosynthesis to obtain sunlight energy to drive the chemistry that supports our existence.

Each species occupies an energy niche where they, as a whole and overall, are the most fit individuals to obtain that particular energy. When that isn't true, they will go extinct, or evolve to obtain energy from a less competitive or more available source.

Humans have obtained a degree of separation from natural systems. This stems from our "Culture" in the Anthropological sense. It is all behaviors we do that are not inherited per se, along with the technology to support our culture.

Language may be the main culprit if we look back as to what drove humanity to be "outside of nature".

That about sums it up.

Except, life, all of it, and overall, exists to digest the Planet Earth, eating up all available chemical and light energy possible.  Any individual species is just on a continuum of other species, taking up an 'energy niche'.

So, as we as individuals, as a species, and as life, eat and shit, that is the purpose of life.

How the expression of human conscience creates culturally relevant norms which drive societal evolutuion, and the origin of religious faith

To a Quora answerer:  Thanks.  have to share, you can delete, regards: Why do humans have a conscience? Is there any evidence to support the idea that other animals also possess a conscience?

Read your answer and need to internalize it, but, The anger/guilt dichotomy is all about social hierarchy, as you said.  here's a couple paragraphs of some implications...things I've been refining...ba anthro 1976 lol.

NORMS, the way people in a culture act, are what drive societal evolution.  Your discussion of our thinking process shows how our individual motivations to act one way or another, lead to and stem from cultural norms.

Jews are not allowed pork, yet Oceanians love it, (norms are cultural) but, if Swine Flu were to jump the porcine=human divide, the Polynesians would be wiped out...that's an example of a societal norm (eating and reveling in pork) causing great societal disruption, depending on environmental factors...like disease. 

NORMS (how we act, the connection to morality) are therefore the Genes of Societal Evolution.  

If those "genes" are expressed in an environment that isn't conducive, the degradation or extinction of society follows!

There is a further implication, relating to "leaders and followers".

Our DNA contains the golden rule, otherwise we couldn't/wouldn't form groups in the first place.  A group implies leaders and followers, by definition, more followers than leaders.

If the leader provides good advice, and the NORMS practiced by that culture are successful, the leader and that 'platform' are used to produce the next generation of this society.

If the leader is unsuccessful (in ending the drought, for example), they are either replaced, new norms are practiced, or, the norms taught by that leader lead to disintegration of the society!

Discussion of why faith happens follows.  Thanks, you really helped!

How the expression of human conscience creates culturally relevant norms which drive societal evolutuion, and the origin of religious faith

To a Quora answerer:  Thanks.  have to share, you can delete, regards: Why do humans have a conscience? Is there any evidence to support the idea that other animals also possess a conscience?

Read your answer and need to internalize it, but, The anger/guilt dichotomy is all about social hierarchy, as you said.  here's a couple paragraphs of some implications...things I've been refining...ba anthro 1976 lol.

NORMS, the way people in a culture act, are what drive societal evolution.  Your discussion of our thinking process shows how our individual motivations to act one way or another, lead to and stem from cultural norms.

Jews are not allowed pork, yet Oceanians love it, (norms are cultural) but, if Swine Flu were to jump the porcine=human divide, the Polynesians would be wiped out...that's an example of a societal norm (eating and reveling in pork) causing great societal disruption, depending on environmental factors...like disease. 

NORMS (how we act, the connection to morality) are therefore the Genes of Societal Evolution.  

If those "genes" are expressed in an environment that isn't conducive, the degradation or extinction of society follows!

There is a further implication, relating to "leaders and followers".

Our DNA contains the golden rule, otherwise we couldn't/wouldn't form groups in the first place.  A group implies leaders and followers, by definition, more followers than leaders.

If the leader provides good advice, and the NORMS practiced by that culture are successful, the leader and that 'platform' are used to produce the next generation of this society.

If the leader is unsuccessful (in ending the drought, for example), they are either replaced, new norms are practiced, or, the norms taught by that leader lead to disintegration of the society!

Discussion of why faith happens follows.  Thanks, you really helped!

Jellyfish will inherit the Earth

This is one of the finest paragraphs ever penned, article citation to follow:

"Like a karmic device come to punish our planetary transgressions, jellyfish thrive on the chaos humans create. 

Overfishing wipes out their competitors and predators; 

warmer water from climate change encourages the spread of some jellies; 

pollution from fertilisers causes the ocean to lose its oxygen, a deprivation to which jellyfish are uniquely tolerant; 

coastal developments provide convenient, safe habitat for their polyps to hide. 

In addition, the great mixing of species transported across the world in the ballasts of ships opens up new, vulnerable ecosystems to these super-adaptors."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/21/are-jellyfish-going-to-take-over-oceans

True that.

He never should be a stunt man...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiR_ced8MrNAhWoxYMKHYLGAYUQqQIIHzAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fktla.com%2F2016%2F06%2F27%2Fjay-leno-walks-away-from-scary-rollover-crash-while-filming-show%2F&usg=AFQjCNFzbdDdlXaog7e4bwMjhuy0V1ExLw&sig2=w5QBWQQ4TXmjoE5CkDCGPA

--

Frish

Keyboard Hash - my latest addition to Urban Dictionary

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Keyboard+Hash

Down to it

smoking keyboard hash. 

Toasty.

--

Frish

This is the note I sent to the LA Times, LA AFFAIRS desk, regarding online dating in Los Angeles.

I've have enjoyed serial monogamy with 6 women, since my divorce in 2002, thanks to online dating sites. In between relationships, I dated, a lot.

100 BLIND DATES IN A YEAR.  I buy a meal for a first date, it's generous and no one has complained yet!

A doctor (surgeon) had an insane story about her former husband's suicide, and then said (over sushi in Santa Monica) that she chose me since I was really big. I asked how is
that important?  In a hoarse whisper, "You can inflict pain".  "I could, but won't...check please...".

We had a nice breakfast. She asked if I owned the print shop, or if I held any patents.  And, wanted to know if my father held any patents. Then she had to run to the gym (so to speak).  I sent her a thank you note, she replied.​  "I'm really too shallow and mean to date you. Even though you will probably think this is the kiss of death, I would want to be friends with you. You're a cute guy, but I have issues. I'm sure I'm already disappointing you. Gotta run now. Late for dinner."​  ​I was disappointed with her subtlety, but impressed with her honesty!

Met a woman for a meal, I was definitely smitten.  I asked her out again, but it was fairly obvious she wasn't interested.  About 3 months later I got a call, "Michael" said a steamy voice, "can you join me later today".  It sounded like she wanted this Michael character REALLY BADLY. I didn't realize it was her until she hung up, after I asked who she was.

Met a woman, a widow for three years (age 45, rather young).  She arrived, in Mourning Clothes (all black).  Her mother moved into her house to help with the kids, and this was her first date since her husband had died!  We discussed her desire for companionship, but she was not ready.  She ended up in the restaurant bathroom speaking with her mother for 30 minutes.

Topanga Canyon is a gorgeous location, and I met my date at her house(!), which was not the usual "public place".  She was renting a converted garage, next to a fantastic house, and was raising 5 puppies (in the kitchen!), purebred and worth over $5000 each.  The front door of her 'house' opened onto a horse stable.  She was also helping tend to the livestock, as part of her rent.  Spent a really nice day in Malibu, but, no way to overcome the barking, flies, and smells!

Had my online date meet me in Venice, where a friend's photography exhibition was opening.  We were more than compatible, she actually followed me home, West Hollywood, (she lives in Encino!), and, seduced me in the living room.  She and I definitely had sparks.  At her place the following weekend, she made an announcement.  She and her boyfriend (a 300 lb. bike gang meth dealer, in prison at that time), had created sexy padded handcuffs for S&M.  B'bye...

A woman said she was 46 years old, and, more quickly than most (it can take days/weeks for some to respond online), we traded phone numbers.  I convinced her to come to my condo, and she did.  I realized that 46 had passed long ago.  I explained the worst way to begin a relationship is lying (she was 64, bit of a transposition error), and she left.  I saw her online soon thereafter, her profile now claiming 56 years old!

I have used for pay sites.  On my profile, I write a poem, so that an intelligent and truly interested woman can decipher my phone number.  Julie and I went out a few times, her home life was too complicated for the relationship I wanted (mom and daughter at home), yet, we remain close friends and have even provided consulting services together.

The best site, being free, is Plenty of Fish.  Sign on, search, find someone, write an email, and it gets to them!

Daters, beware!  Your picture can be dragged to google images and your real identity is often shown (since the pic's probably in your Facebook album).
Take a new, unique, and unpublished picture to post on your profile, if you want to maintain your anonymity, and get more folk to write.

The sites that are all about sex are scams, which is evident when you search their images, and find the same sultry (or brazen!) women on dozens of sites…

Frish

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cruz-kasich-strike-tenuous-deal-in-attempt-to-slow-down-trump/2016/04/25/3ed573b0-0afd-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html

Beauty contests aside, have any Republicans offered ANY proposals To:

Improve Employment

Get Corporations Out of Campaign and Government Finance

Make education affordable and available

Climate Change Mitigation

Oh, sorry, EVERYTHING REPUBLICANS STAND FOR IS NOT TRUE!

Muslims are not the target, Carpet Bombing won't work, waterboarding IS torture, etc.
Cutting taxes for the wealthy will do nothing to change employment
it will simply give them more money.
There is a difference between venture capital and capital returns from ordinary stock/bond/etc.
investing, so ordinary investing ought to be taxed at the same rate as wages.
Which will do what the tax system ought to do, reward entrepreneurs (not 'investors' over 'workers').

"Fixing" Social Security is easy, raise the cap on earnings, or, remove it entirely,
and reduce everyone's rate.

Climate change due to humans is real, and accelerating,
and helping to cause the dislocations that will disrupt BUSINESS!
Thought Republicans liked business, since even Exxon has known for DECADES
that Human Caused Climate Chaos is real.

Being "gay" is not a choice. (bi- trans- queer- gay- lesbian -oth- hetero-)
(If being gay is a choice, when did you chose to be hetero?)
If businesses didn't hire them, undocumented workers wouldn't be working,
which is why all the yelling about amnesty for them,
the GOP wants them undocumented to pay them dirt.

They claim to be hawks, with the interests of our Vets at heart,
yet they stop or cut every veterans bill.

Due to their stance on the climate, they are basically treasonous,
since the integrity of the entire world's Biosphere is at stake, I kid you not.

We, the USAmericans are 5% of the world's population, and use 25% of the resources.

However, that's not the worst thing.

NOTHING HUMANS DO IS SUSTAINABLE.
Wake up people so our politicians are doing what's right for US.

There was a time I was ahead of the curve...

I think that this blog, regardless of its future, shows that I am not totally and utterly and distinctly and overtly and beyond redemption when it comes to the internet.

While with IBM, I disclosed a new product to DARPA NET - SNA Fractional T-1 56KB managed backbone in 1986.

So I know there was I a time when I actually was ahead of the curve!

My father was ahead of the curve.

He played hardball catcher and boxed in the Navy. Boxed against a golden-gloves kid and got his ass planted! But, he had the balls to get in the ring...

No, while quite physically coordinated, my father was not a worldclass athelete anytime I've known him.

He's far better known for his original operations research in and

Voodoo Ceremony

In Rio de Janeiro, in the Mid-1980's, about 20 of us were there for my brother's honeymoon (!). 

We had connections, and went to a real live (favela/SLUM) neighborhood on the steep side of a hill, 

and sat through the real services on a Friday night Mass...at a voodoo (Candomblé) neighborhood temple. 

We were seated in a large room, with a low ceiling, about 40 people  

The neighborhood Priestess was in charge.  

She spoke, a little sermon (in Portuguese, of course) and a small banda started playing music, mostly percussion instruments, some whistles and other fun things.

People started doing some rhythmic things, clapping, hooting etc. and the Priestess began to do what my sister and I had coined years prior, "Dancing and Trancing", since even atheists need this type release too!

At that point, the priestess tranced out, lit a big cigar, and took on a male deity personna, tossing back a couple of shots of Cachaça, the local rum (cheaper than bottled water, (for the masses don't you know)).

Her voice and body posture changed, and she took big puffs on the cigar, eyes pretty much rolled back into her head.

Then, a line formed, and one by one, the neighbors lined up to discuss things with God.

God listened, and whispered back.  We could almost hear them, there was no confessional or privacy, just the continued music and rhythmic accompaniment. 

(At that point, the "Catholic" part of the service was ending, and we were led outside to another altar, this one with devils and other interesting phantasmagorical items. 

Some of the elderly amongst us, the bride side of course, decided they had had enough, since the Devil side was frightening to them so we left.)

Basically, the ceremony allowed neighborhood disputes to be settled amicably, since mostly it was grievances like they stole my chicken...

It made everything more mellow, again that week, before the heavy drinking, knives and fire arms appear during the weekend...

Everything is better with Sriracha

Cuban fried rice

Insane, yet not surprising...

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160119/ncomms10244/full/ncomms10244.html

The graphs in this article tell the tale, fish have gone to negative growth worldwide.

I've read that fish are evolving smaller, because those are the ones that can wiggle through drift nets...

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Frish