2008 - Time moves along without you

(Pick up the last crayon you'll need to finish this years picture)

The last day and the last breath of 2008 awaits.

It waits for us to breath it in and live it for one last time.

The question remains though, will we take advantage of the last time we see 2008, or will we let it drift away, never to see it again?

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Coloring in a Black and White picture

Philosophically, we must all understand that we invest our selves and our lives into each and every year.

When one year finishes, we've left a part of our soul with it.
It's as if we've colored one of those children's black and white pictures.

We started off with these nice goals, this nice outline of what we wanted to do.
Then we spent a year coloring it in, trying to get the right shades of color.

At the end of the year though, we have to ask ourselves, did we get the right colors we wanted?

Did we stay within the lines?

Have we become a better person and can we move on to bolder tasks and eventually the Mona Lisa?

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My Journey

Some of us rush to fill in what we can, at the end of the year.

Others procrastinate our goals, and leave them be for another year.

For once in my life though, personally, I can say I've colored in the picture as best as I can.
I've had breakthroughs and goals that I had never felt I could start, let alone possibly overcome.

I can move on to a closer image of my Mona Lisa.

If I had to define a climax in the first part of my young life (first 20 years) , I can say that this climax occurred in this year.

Things forever distant, or seemingly invincible, have become possible, and long journeys seem short distances.

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What we should do tomorrow

When you wake up tomorrow, try and take in as much of the last bit of 2008 that remains.

This doesn't mean that I'm asking everyone to go and create a busy schedule of events and to try and stay active tomorrow.

That's actually the opposite of what I feel is best.

Do the closest thing you can do, to connect with the world. How you do that depends on the person.

I go biking and I let the world slow down as it rushes around me. One hour on a bike is longer than most people's days feel.

Some people simply like going to a park, some feel it deep in yoga, and others feel it when the mist of the waves hits their face.

Regardless of what your task is, don't let your body, your soul, and your mind treat this last day of 2008, as any ordinary day.

Don't drown in normal entertainment and let them amuse your day away, doing things like watching T.V or going to the movies. Do not succumb to popular entertainment, and don't hibernate your mind, at least not on this day.

Do whatever you normally do, that slows down the world, brings it to a halt, and allows you to contemplate on your life.

That's where philosophy lies, it's where it hides, and if you have to put yourself in a prison to make it happen, then buy yourself some metal bars.

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The last day of 2008 is for remembering the past

Sacrifice that last day of 2008 to yourself. Sacrifice it to slow down the dizzying world around you.

Let that last day die and with it spark a revolution inside of you.

Let 2008 wrap around you and contemplate on what has happened, not on what must in the future.

The future, and your future goals need to wait for another day.
That outline and that black and white picture will be made in 2009.

But that last day of 2008 is for the past.

Soak yourself up in the lessons of history, and awake the next day, clean and rejuvenated, ready for the next picture, awaiting to be colored in, one step closer to your Mona Lisa.

~~Phoenix

It's easier to see Harm than it is to see Good

I've read things such as, "Religion has done more harm than good" and statements like this need to be reanalyzed.

All sorts of friends can name off a number of mean things you've done to them, or mistakes you've made, but ask them to remember 10 generous gestures and they go blank.

The harm is easier to see than the good.

No one sees the people comforted by religion, who do not smoke or drink, who live lives of ease.

What people see are the zealots who kill others and start wars, and they ascribe religion to be the cause and the only cause of that.


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I want to keep this one short, because it was a moment of intense inspiration, when i read that quoted sentence above online and it lit a fire under me.

You need to reevaluate ANY claim made by ANY one who says something does more harm than good, because good has a way of hiding and blending into the background, while harm and evil jump out at you.

It's another reason why News channels prefer stories of death, than to stories of achievement and thanks.

~~Phoenix

Using Time Wisely - Seven Pounds Movie

It's a movie you have to see, that encompasses my last post perfectly. *

Time is everything, don't let us sit idly by and do nothing while we burn in it.

This movie has received a lot of negative reception, and I don't care really. We voted Bush twice into the presidency, so maybe I'll trust other people's perceptions some other time.


I can't describe this movie as well as how Todd McCarthy did.

He puts it perfectly:

He characterized the film as an "endlessly sentimental fable about sacrifice and redemption that aims only at the heart at the expense of the head."


Will, this is an astounding role you did, it's completely unlike you. It cuts out all your charisma, and we were watching a completely different character up there.
He spoke in ways you don't, he acts in ways you don't, he had mannerisms you didn't, it was a work of acting genius.

Very Early on i knew what the movie was in full, and what would happen, i don't know if that was intentional and normal, or if i was just a unique viewer.

Either way it kept my attention, every waking second.

It's a drama, it's a love story, it's sacrifice, it's hope, it's DETERMINATION, and it's strength.

7 days to create the earth, 7 seconds to destroy, 7 pounds to rebuild.
One consistent determination.

~~Phoenix


*= (I noticed that sentance rhymed after i proofread it lol)

Do not let me Burn Idly by

(If we must burn in time, let us light the world with our final breaths)

I wish the same for you, my dear reader, as I wish for all the people of my generation.

I wish for the lifting of the great plague that has come upon my generation and possibly future posterity.

I ask that time not burn us, while we sit idly by. That if we must go, we go in a blaze of light that forever comforts the world.

Make 2009 the awakening of my generation and let it actualize all teenagers into young adults.

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The poem that inspired me to write this post:

Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day
by Delmore Schwartz

Calmly we walk through this April's day,
Metropolitan poetry here and there,
In the park sit pauper and rentier,
The screaming children, the motor-car
Fugitive about us, running away,
Between the worker and the millionaire
Number provides all distances,
It is Nineteen Thirty-Seven now,
Many great dears are taken away,
What will become of you and me
(This is the school in which we learn...)
Besides the photo and the memory?
(...that time is the fire in which we burn.)

(This is the school in which we learn...)
What is the self amid this blaze?
What am I now that I was then
Which I shall suffer and act again,
The theodicy I wrote in my high school days
Restored all life from infancy,
The children shouting are bright as they run
(This is the school in which they learn...)
Ravished entirely in their passing play!
(...that time is the fire in which they burn.)

Avid its rush, that reeling blaze!
Where is my father and Eleanor?
Not where are they now, dead seven years,
But what they were then?
No more? No more?
From Nineteen-Fourteen to the present day,
Bert Spira and Rhoda consume, consume
Not where they are now (where are they now?)
But what they were then, both beautiful;

Each minute bursts in the burning room,
The great globe reels in the solar fire,
Spinning the trivial and unique away.
(How all things flash! How all things flare!)
What am I now that I was then?
May memory restore again and again
The smallest color of the smallest day:
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.

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A final plea, and 3 small quotes, by yours truly

Let not another moment go by, without our fullest potential being set into motion.


1) There were always better days, but time goes forward, and death never strays.

2) Into light we hope our deeds should turn, once time has run out, and our lives have been burned.

3) Remember death with every waking breath.

~~Phoenix

Horace Mann

Some Philosophical quotes to think about by Horace Mann.

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"

“A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them.”

“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.”

“Avoid witticisms (Jokes or witty remarks) at the expense of others.”

“Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.”

“Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge(water or floods).”

“Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.”

“Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour of death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear.”

“Habit is a cable(Habits are cables); we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it.”

“If any man seeks for greatness, let him forget greatness and ask for truth, and he will find both.”

“If evil is inevitable, how are the wicked accountable? Nay, why do we call men wicked at all? Evil is inevitable, but is also remediable (capable of being remedied).”

“It is well to think well; it is divine to act well.”

“Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen.”

“Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever.”

“Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals.”

“Much that we call evil is really good in disguises; and we should not quarrel rashly with adversities not yet understood, nor overlook the mercies often bound up in them.”

“Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.”

“Scientific truth is marvelous, but moral truth is divine and whoever breathes its air and walks by its light has found the lost paradise.”

“To pity distress(pain) is but human; to relieve it is Godlike.”

[To feel sorry for someone's pain is human, but to relieve it is godlike. A better translation if the original quote was hard to read for you.]

“Unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. You may as well borrow a person's money as his time.”

“When a child can be brought to tears, and not from fear of punishment, but from repentance he needs no chastisement. When the tears begin to flow from the grief of their conduct you can be sure there is an angel nestling in their heart.”

Source

~~Phoenix

Peace

A simple plea, from a humble soul:

Imagine the world without war...hope this ends...why can't we all live in peace?

And my response to their plea:

We can't live in peace, because not enough people are getting up and building it.

Peace is a building, it's a job, it's a hard days work.

But everyone forgets it, and no one puts in the effort to build it.

We don't want peace, we want greed, we want to be special, we want to have power.

If you want to help, you have to first get up, but no one will stand with you, I stand alone now as it is.

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Look into the eyes of a person, peer into their soul.

Don't listen to them, don't let them sway you, watch them, and see their inner desires.

Power is what you'll see most of the time, then comes greed, then comes the need to be special.

Peace will come, when the lazy stand up, and the powerful feel pain; not physical, but emotional pain.

Peace will come when people remember their death, remember this life is as quick as a dream.

All i hear is peace out of the mouths of people, yet all i see is greed inside the souls deep within.

Sincerity is a dying commodity and most people know not what they truly want.

~~Phoenix

Economic divide

This post wasn't made because of the above amazing video but because of a very important comment.

It read:

"what you fail to mention is, these people in the top 1% already pay a higher percentage of tax, and they are the guys that MAKE jobs also. If we are going to tax the guys that use money to create jobs, the free market economy will fail, and we will become socialist like France. I suppose we will see that happen now that Obama has won. You'll be sorry. All the great everyday aspects of life will disappear because no one will strive to innovate since Obama will take their hard earned money anyway."

Oh wow did that fire me up lol.

I came shooting back with:

"Oh and btw for that other guy who said taxing the rich was bad for the economy, I've just got to say:

'Hey buddy... cars don't buy cars, homes don't buy homes, and the economy doesn't buy itself.

The better the spending power from below, the better the top does. It's simple logic.

Or did that commenter think that cars magically sold to faeries?' "

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The rich can't afford it

It's not just him, lots of people believe this very amusing ideology.

The commenter is basically saying we have to ease the stress on the richest Americans so they can afford to hire people to make more money.

We're talking about rich people being able to afford something...

Isn't this some kind of oxymoron?
You're not labeled rich, or in the top .1% unless you have access to VAST amounts of resources... so why are we worried about how much THEY can afford.

What about the 25% of Americans making less than 30k, who can barely afford living...

You know if you empowered them, their spending power would go up, and more people could make money as a result.

But no... that's illogical, letting people keep more money, to spend more, to stimulate the economy... that doesn't make sense... right?

It makes more sense to lower taxes on the super rich, without asking them to use that extra money...

Right?

Yea... people really need to analyze their logic before they go off spewing it all over youtube or Libertarian forums.

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The Majority of America Uplifted by Less taxes

I don't like Barack as you saw from my last post but his plan doesn't raise a dime in taxes for people who make $250k or less.

As you saw from the video, he's protecting more than 95% of America that way.

And again, if someone is allowed to keep more money, he can spend more, which lets business flourish.

This was seen during the New deal by FDR, where he kept the economy going through government programs and government work organizations.

He allowed people to work and spend, and kept the economy ticking away until WW2 took us out of the depression.

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Inspiration comes at weird times

So as i mentioned in previous posts I only write when I'm inspired and a sure fire way of doing that is holding positions that the above commenter held. These positions he held were complete misconceptions and untruths about the economy and opinions based on nothing but the rumors and lackluster logic.

Anyways the comment did allow people on this blog to see that amazing video so I guess the commenter did do some good after all.

Economic standpoints:
Cars don't buy cars, if you want spending power and you want to stimulate the economy you must give that power to those who need it the most and those that number in the most.

Moral standpoint:
A people are only as good as how they treat the lowest members of their society.

No matter how you look at it, uplifting the lowest rungs of society is never a bad thing.
That's why I'm a socialist.

~~Phoenix

North Korea

Watch this video, before reading this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FZMwoY7DyM

I'd embed the video here, but embedding is disabled.

Also watch this video:




For more information or to help this cause you can visit:
http://www.linkglobal.org/
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The Media's Enemies, scapegoats to keep you busy and looking away from the real ones.

Where in Syria do you have concentration camps?

Where can you find a brutal dictatorship in Jordan?

What kind of people are enslaved in dungeons in Iran?

Under Saddam Hussein did people suffer from hunger and disease, as famine ravaged their bodies and caused them to grow slower than a normal human would?

Does Venezuela constitute a Nuclear threat?

Since when did Cuba go on killing rampages and try to starve off it's own people?


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Our true enemies lie hidden

It's simple, the media has been painting a picture that is clearly false.

None of the countries listed above has anywhere near a track record as bad as North Korea.

Yet what has this Government been doing, in talks with North korea?

It has been scaling back measures, appeasing the North Koreans by taking them off the list of Terrorist Nations(thereby helping their economy and stopping certain sanctions).

Source "U.S. Declares North Korea Off Terror List"

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A man of Hitlers Caliber

Have we not looked into the Eyes of Hitler before? He is Kim John Il, and yet we do nothing. Have we not learned from WW1 and WW2?

Every year, every moment, every time i hear of North Korea, I shudder, I stand still, i wait, seeing if anyone else looks into the evil that i see.

Where is our shining beacon of hope America?

Where is the peace we offer to the rest of the world?

When will we valiantly come to help, as we say we do, as we say we've done in Iraq?(Although those intentions were far less selfless)

Where is our hand that holds, the shadow that protects, the ever watching policeman of the world?

Has he failed us?

America, have you left the North Koreans to fend for themselves?

And what of Somalia, The Congo, and Darfur?

Where are you United Nations?

Have you failed us yet again?

As the Gaza strip (Palestine) lies in Darkness, with 500,000-600,000 people living in Darkness (50% of them Children), I feel as if a veil has lifted over the world.

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The shining new spirit that fills the whitehouse, leaves the world in pieces


Barack Obama, you may have shined some happiness and hope in the world, but you do nothing when it comes to fighting true evil.


Mr. President Elect, I call you a failure and a coward for not addressing the starving and enslaved people of the world.

Mr. President Elect, there remains at least 1 person that sees the world as it truly is.

Mr President Elect, there remains at least 1 person, who watches you walk by, as the world lays in tatters on the floor.

You have 4 years, yet you look away from the problems that we truly face.

Mr. President Elect, I am the first person whom you have failed but i won't be the last.

~~Phoenix

California Proposition Results

So here are the results of our propositions for 2008:

Legend:

• The Numbers below the propositions represent the percentage of votes.

• The left number is the "yes" votes and the right number is the "no" votes.

• An X next to a proposition means it didn't match my vote.

• ## Represents a Bond. Those Props are 1, 3, 10, and 12.

## X 1) High speed rail: Yes
52.1 to 47.9

2) Farm Animal treatment: Yes
63.1 to 36.9

## X 3) Children's Hospitals: Yes
54.8 to 45.2

X 4) Abortion Notification: No
48 to 52

X 5) Drug offense leniency: No
40.1 to 59.1

X 6) Increased spending for Cops: No
30.8 to 69.2

X 7) Renewable Energy, 50% provided by Renewable by 2025: No
35.2 to 64.8

8) Gay Marriage Ban: Yes
52.5 to 47.5

9) Victim's rights: Yes
53.5 to 46.5

## 10) Alternative Fuel Cars: No
40.3 to 59.7

11) Redistricting by Registered Voters not Politicians: Yes
50.6 to 49.4

## X 12) Veterans Bond for Loans: Yes
63.5 to 36.5

Source (Check out the source to see some interactive information. Check proposition results in counties and see detailed spreading of votes.)

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Analysis:
So 7 of the propositions did not folllow my vote, but luckily 5 did.
That's a 41.66% success rate. Not ideal but for politics that's definitely an A.

Sadly the one initiative i wanted to pass most was Prop 7. The reason it failed was supposedly weak wording or creation by lawyers. Regardless it's not hard to write on a piece of paper, "50% of our electricity will be renewable by 2025".

That single line was enough for me. I guess it wasn't enough for the vast majority of California though. :(

Bonds:

3 of the 4 that we proposed passed. I hope people actual looked at their General Election Voting Guides because I get the feeling they didn't...

I swear it's like we're in a mall, and we see some shiny toys, and regardless of the price we want it. It's a crazy shoppers mentality.

I would have been happy loosing to Prop 12, that doesn't make me angry. It's a small bond and it has a good chance of being paid back.

But prop 1.... was a joke, anyone doing a little research would have figured it out.
Prop 3 was a scam, giving money's to institutions that don't CATER to children. You'd think by the name of the proposition that they would, but the exact definition of Children's hospital was so vague that it allowed MOST hospitals to receive funding....

Private hospitals that have nothing to do with children would be eligible.... by simply treating a large number of children.

It's sad, 2 bonds, both scams, both passed, and one of them being the biggest project that California has ever funded. Prop 1 will drive us into a hole, financially, by being the biggest project ever constructed here.

All for what? So we can pay $50, as the voter's guide said, to get on a train to San Francisco? Yea, like going there is important, while we watch our own infrastructure crumble.


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We can't afford it:


On a final note, to all those people who said we couldn't afford health care, that we couldn't pay for better schools, that we couldn't pay our firefighters or cops more, that 1 trillion dollars to rebuild all of America's Infrastructure was just too much, that the minimum wage was too costly to increase, and that lowering taxes would cripple our economy

I'd just like to ask them one thing:

HOW DID YOU FIND $700 BILLION DOLLARS FOR A BAILOUT OF THE BANKING SECTOR!!!!!

That's $700,000,000,000

Oh and on another note

HOW DID YOU INCREASE OUR DEFENSE BUDGET TO $515.4 BILLION DOLLARS.(The highest military budget since WW2)

THAT BUDGET IS A 74% INCREASE SINCE 2001!!!

Source (PDF) Source (Link)

Follow up:

NY Times article entitled "Proposed Military Spending Is Highest Since WWII"
Link

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We can't afford it.... yea right....

One day you'll have to have a bake sale to buy bombs and we'll be doubling OUR budgets!!

~~Phoenix

Priorities

(I need my peers to stop following the crowd and start following what's important)

Life is all about priorities.
For some reason, my generation doesn't seem to understand that.

The inspiration for this post came from watching a small group of people in front of my college, protest for a proposition on the Ballot.

It was proposition 8 and it includes removing the right of Gay people to vote.
There were 2 groups of protesters, one for the proposition and one against.
I asked myself one thing, that probably no one there did, "Is this the most important issue on the ballot, the most important proposition that needs to pass or fail?"

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Prop 7

The answer was simple, it wasn't the most important issue, or even near it.

The most important proposition in my mind was proposition 7.

California Proposition 7 would, if approved, require California utilities to procure half of their power from renewable resources by 2025. California utilities will be required to increase their purchase of electricity generated from renewable resources by 2% annually to meet Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements of 40% in 2020 and 50% in 2025. Under current law, investor-owned utility companies must comply with an RPS of 20% by 2010.

Source

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Marriage or Energy independence?

So I know proposition 8 only affects gay couples, but just to be fair, I'll assume my right to marriage is in jeopardy.

So i ask myself, what's more important, Marriage or Energy independence?

The answer for me and millions of Californian's is simple, Energy independence.
Are we blind or something?
Is this question a joke?
Is this even a contest? Should we even be comparing such things that clearly have a night and day difference of importance?

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My peers

So being told that... why are those protesters focused on prop 8?

I don't get it... i've seen them there almost every time i go to college, for more than 2 weeks.

Why put so much focus on marriage?

Have they even heard of proposition 7, or the other amazing ones that NEED to pass, that NEED our support to change America and California?

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Potential movements Die, with the power of 1,000 civil rights movements.

I lower my head now, and i ask the people of the future who read this, to pity me.

To pity me as they see me in history, having to deal with such problems.

This isn't the period of hatred and violence, back with racism and segregation.

This is the period of Ignorance and laziness, the time where we thirst for no knowledge and quench our questions with biased water.

I ask the people of future years to help me never let this happen again, to never allow the media to so totally push us away from the CENTRAL issues of our time.

Please, help me, as i watch the important things in life drift away, as i watch a potential movement as strong as the civil rights, die.

I watch potential movements, with the power to bring down nations, wallow away.


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Spreading information, Shining the light that will start the movements of my time

I watch as my peers sit by complacently, as if the world is as it should be.

I see the world and treat it as it should be, not how it is, and what we have now, will never be acceptable to me.

If a movement won't start and a people will not rise, I will turn on a light so bright, that no one will be able to look away.

I just hope others can help me carry the burden, helping to awaken the mass of sleeping people, put there by their manipulators(Dual party system) and their media(ABC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, and CNN).

Rest well my peers, soon you'll be awakened and actualized.
We'll have third party candidates and Governmental coalitions some day.

A light bright enough to awaken my peers, where can such a light be found? How can such a newspaper be made? Might this blog serve as that first candle?

The information will get to them, the question is how.

~~Phoenix

They Preach water but Drink Wine

(We're an ever changing puzzle, very few can understand, let alone solve)

Someone on the Riz khan show today said an excellent quote "They preach water but they drink wine".

They were referring to America on a number of issues. The issue focused on in that episode was transparency in our election.

America was calling for free and open elections but was not meeting their commitments with electronic ballots and voter fraud allegations.

We make fun of Zimbabwe and Kenya when they have censored and biased elections, yet we do very little to upgrade our own system.


A few other things America preaches but refuses to drink themselves:

• Anti-Nationalization of businesses for government (AIG, and many other banks were nationalized)

• Health care for it's people.(50 million strong don't have it)

• Free media, not affected by big business

• Invasions of countries such as how Georgia was invaded by Russia, after it invaded south ossetia (Iraq war stands as a clear contradiction to this as well as our past history)

America wants a lot of things, but it is too hypocritical when it comes to applying it's own standard to itself.

We want freedom yet we take the freedom of others away.

We want fair elections and transparency, yet we allowed 2 elections to be stolen by bush.

We need to preach water, and drink it too.

We've become drunk from all this wine and the hangover has yet to come.

Morality losing to My Generation

There has been a gradual loss of morality as the years have ticked away.

I've been seeing general trends of immorality increasing.

It has gotten so bad that i get scared looking at how the kids are dressed at my middle school.

When i was that young, which wasn't that long ago, I would never see little girls wearing some of the small outfits they are now, or shirts with very flirtatious messages.

Just changing the position of the text of a shirt sometimes gives a provacative look. (On the chest of a girl for instance, another example given later as well.)

And all this at a middle school? That's 6-8th graders... or 11-13 year olds; children.

My Generation's Morality:

1) Cars: I was driving today and I was leaving College down the only road that heads to the freeway. 

Naturally lots of other classes end when mine ends so there was a long line of cars behind and in front of me. 

I passed two side streets and both had vehicles waiting. How long they wait depends on the generosity of the person.

If no car stops for them (Which by law they don't have to) they will probably be there for more than 10 minutes. If a car waits for 10 seconds, and lets them go, that is beneficial to both parties and a nice gesture.

So at the first side street i let someone go who just arrived there, and the driving becomes stop and go. 

After only about 20 ft or so (yet 2 minutes of waiting bumper to bumper), we get to the next  side street, and a guy wants to make a left into it. There were about 10-20 cars in front of me and none of them let him turn.

It would have taken less than 10 seconds and they would have been able to continue their stop and go experience.... but no one did it.

What happens to a world where people are not willing to be generous, by waiting less than 10 seconds?

I let the man pass and i was sad because i didn't know if anyone else would have. I thought of how long he might have had to wait.

I was shocked to see all those cars in front of me go, and none of them stop for him, to let the poor guy cross.

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2) Clothes: This is something most guys won't appreciate because they've been enjoying this luxury for about 3 decades now.

Female clothing is getting ridiculous. 

• Messages on her behind: Pants that have messages in places that are asking guys to look. The sad thing is that the mentality here in America is that there is nothing wrong with looking; actually your'e gay if you don't look. I saw a girl with pants like these, with nothing provacative on them, It simply had the USC school colors and had "USC" typed on the pants. She probably didn't see anything sexy or provacative about it at all though. But that's the problem...  She probably doesn't think it's bad but if she really thinks about it, she would see that it does turn guys on, and guys won't mind looking at the USC letters, not because of what's written but the fact that' it's on her nicely shaped behind.

• Really high skirts or shorts/short jeans: For some reason, even in the coldest weather, there are always girls with very short skirts or short jeans on. Again, regardless of the cold. Btw it's rarely cold here in SoCal, so on those hot days, the weather begs those skirts to get worn and come out. 

• Stomach: How can we forget the stomach look, it's been around for a while now and it's probably here to stay. This look though is seen as provacative, and it's a must for the party/clubbing life. Don't forget the accessory that is the belly button piercing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3) Arguing: People have lost respect and morality in this manner. Discussions and dialogues have lost their meanings. What once was used as a medium to discuss and compare ideas has turned into a screaming match and mud slinging. 

People do not have proper conversations or discussions anymore.

What discussions should be about:

1) Taking insight and seeing problems in a different light

2) Wondering why the other side holds such beliefs.

3)  Discussing what positions would have to be true or false, for your friend to change their opinion on the topic. 

Right now it's all about, "I'm right, and here is why". It's never about, "What positions and complex of situations does the other person believe in that i don't, that causes their position."

You don't delve into why people might disagree, you just plain disagree, and that ruins a discussion, and turns it into an arguement. You then end up looking arrogant and stubborn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

People losing their ways:

They've lost it because they allow a man's sexual and animalistic desires to take hold.

They take women and transfer them from human beings, to objects of sexual attraction, something to be used and admired for shallow reasons, like an animal at the zoo. 

But she's worth more than that, she shouldn't be paraded around as your fantasy.

But Morality is fighting a loosing war.

Why would a women wear any pants that have writing written on their behind, knowing full well guys will read it, and actually asking them too, promoting the text by putting it in a sexual place. 

But what about good old plain manners? Why let a car wait 10 minutes when you can ease him of his suffering by waiting 10 seconds. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To sum it up

There needs to be an awakening amongst females. They need to stop being used as sexual toys and treated as meat to be stared at.

They're more than that, they're intellectuals and nurturing souls, they've helped build this world into the strongest economies we've ever seen. 

They're not to be used and abused like we've been doing, and women need to stop enabling this by wearing horrible clothing. 

But none of this will change unless there is a feminine movement to do so. 

General Morality:

We need the Neighbor mentality, we need to sacrifice for others, in what little ways we can.

Let a car pass if you see they have to wait 10 minutes, and you only have to wait 10 seconds. 

Don't be impervious to the line of cars stacked behind you. 

Stop acting like you know everything, and take input from others. Actually listen to what they have to say, because if you don't, you'll never progress and will be wrong on many occasions. 

When you have a discussion, don't turn it into an argument of who is right and who is wrong.

In the end, everything I'm writing is futile, it's in vain, and it won't see the light of day.

A new morality is taking hold. A morality where cheating on your gf/bf is acceptable, and you're expected to forgive them. If not that, forgiving them is a serious option, when in reality it should only be used as a last resort, in desperate consequences. 

A new morality is taking over, one where it's o.k to hurt someone else's feelings.

If they're annoying or not as smart as you, they're inferior, so what should it matter to you if their feelings get hurt?

There's no one to stick up for them in this new world, and we all live for ourselves, not as a community.

A new morality is taking over, and i'm the last of a dying race. 

I will not sell out my fellow sisters on the world, for their mere looks or flesh. 

They will matter more to me than that.

They won't be paraded around and put on magazines with cars on them. 

They won't be forced into scandalous scenes, to make it big in the movie industry.

A new morality is taking over, and there is no room for "I'm sorry" anymore.

My Generation is holding the old morality in it's hands, and is prepared to strike out the last signs of life, of a dying people during a trying time.

A new morality is taking over, and i'm forced to live amongst it.

~~Phoenix

Possible final post on Cordelia Blog

Btw, why is it that my comments are discarded now on this blog?

I had to change the name just to post this.

Maybe i'm unwelcome now, and an open discussion isn't what you wanted.
That's fine, because in the end I only want to speak to people willing to listen.

Why waste my energy, and yours, if you seem to not want to take in anything I say?

Again I'm asking why my comments on the name "Theephoenix" are being discarded?

And if it's because you don't want an open discussion, I'm fine with going away.

Next time place a disclaimer on the site: "No opposing views shall be endorsed or expressed, and the vilification of Islam will remain, regardless of our Previous Pope's Views or the Teachings of Jesus Christ, the uniter of humanity."

~~Phoenix

Third post

"asimplesinner" our stances remain crystal clear, whether you want to admit it or not, you demonize muslims.

Just through reading your responses, it's clear you don't side yourself as an Ally of muslims.

The problem is, John Paul II did ally himself with Islam, and so did many of your leaders.

Your shield in all of this was simply writing an article, but your beliefs stem deeper than that, they reverberate in your responses.

Even if the article is o.k and accepted by us, your beliefs in this discussion are not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You do as many people have done, you ask for Muslim Condemnation of evil actions.

You continuously ask it, even when we both agree that something is AGAINST Islam, you ask for our condemnation of it. Again even after we agree it goes against the religion.

Where have the muslim's condemned it?
Why do the moderates not speak up?
Where is the majority?

These all reverberate through your comments.

The problem is, your eyes are closed, there are muslims here condemning such things who are speaking to you as you read this.

And as for political condemnations:
http://www.islamicinformationcenter.org/

The strongest governmental muslim organization that routinely condemns acts of violence.

If you had bothered to look for condemnation you would have found it, the problem is you shut your eyes to it. That organization is headquartered in Washington and is a powerhouse for muslim political activity.

Again if you had bothered looking for it, you would have found it, the problem is you don't actively look for condemnation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1.3 billion muslims are condemning the actions of a few, and are upset with their governments.

Just because your media doesn't show it, doesn't mean it isn't there.

Try watching Al Jazeera English, or the BBC, and get an international Viewpoint, maybe you'd become less biased.

http://english.aljazeera.net/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

CNN and MSNBC are not in the business of informing you, they're in the business of business.

~~Phoenix

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After I wrote that and posted in on the Black Cordelia's blog, it said the comment was discarded.

I tried submitting it again, but that name is now set to auto discard all comments.

I assume I'm not invited to speak on the blog anymore, maybe they don't want to have true discussions, whatever the case, i'll make this clear in my next post to them, and ask them why they don't welcome open debate.

~~Phoeinx

Second Post to Cordelia

A second post, after my previous one, just to hit home that the Papacy is not at war with Islam, and neither are the Catholics, as some of them would want.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh as a last note, Pope John Paul II said something you probably are too proud to say, and yes he believed it, as you should:

"In August 1985, when he visited Morocco at the invitation of King Hassan II, he became the first pope to visit an officially Islamic country at the invitation of its religious leader.

There, at a historic meeting with thousands of Muslim youths in Casablanca Stadium, he emphasized that "we believe in the same God, the one God, the living God."

http://www.catholicnews.com/jpii/stories/story04.htm


Christianity, the true version of it, is not at war with Islam.

But some factions of the church, such as some writers of this blog, are fighting the church and fighting the teachings of Christianity.

Peace is the way to prosperity, not hate or ignorance.

~~Phoenix

Continuation of Hate on Black Cordelias

My reply to the continuation of hate on a christian blog.

Follow the discussion here:
http://theblackcordelias.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/unveiled-women-turn-men-into-beasts/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

80% of America doesn't want the Iraq war, but we're there now.

You think Just because 3 Muslim Countries make people wear Burkhas, that somehow 1.3 billion Muslims believe it?

That's called ignorance, Governments do what they like and manipulate religion how they like, they do not represent religion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When was the last time a Protestant claimed that the Vatican had any leeway on their religion at all?

This is pure nonsense and "asimplesinner" is making futile points

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His points include:

1) Burkha's are mandatory because they are enforced in some Muslim countries

That somehow makes Iraq a lawful war, even though 80% of Americans are against it and it still hasn't come to an end, even though WE elected a Democratic CONGRESS in 2006.

The fact is simple, whether you believe it or not: The burkha is a traditional garment.

IN Iran and Saudi Arabia and other places, they TRADITIONALLY have warn it, that doesn't make it mandatory or even beneficial.

GOVERNMENTS DO NOT ( DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT) MAKE RELIGION, ARGUING THAT POINT IS LIKE TALKING TO A CHILD. YOU EITHER UNDERSTAND IT OR YOU DON'T.

Governments don't always reflect their people's wishes, as clearly demonstrated in IRAQ.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2) He argues Christianity does not mandate head coverings for women.

He agrees that the Bible Mandates it, but NO ONE FOLLOWS THE BIBLE.

IGNORING A RULE DOESN'T MEAN IT DOES NOT EXIST.

The rule exists, women must cover their hair, Just because common day christians do not follow it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AS FOR THE POPE:

You've been living in a box, or have not been watching the pope at all, because one of his strongest stances, during his papacy, was the healing of the wounds with Islam.

"The Vatican's 1999 declaration, "Memory and Reconciliation," subtitled "The Church and the Faults of the Past," which followed the 1992 apology for the persecution of the 17th-century astronomer and physicist Galileo, was a profoundly important act of grappling with the dark episodes of church history as part of a process the Holy See called "historical purification." In the litany of atrocities against Jews, Muslims, women, and ethnic groups, the Crusades were specifically mentioned. For the first time in church history, the Vatican, under John Paul II, apologized for what the Crusaders had done. Its impact was enormous, signifying a tectonic shift in Christian attitudes toward Islam. In guiding the church toward this repentance, Pope John Paul II allowed Muslims to re-connect with one of their own main theological figures-Jesus."

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2005/04/Bridge-Builder-To-The-Muslim-World.aspx?p=2

Not only did he do that, but he also kissed the Quran, http://tinyurl.com/5fdujo , a picture that i linked to above but you easily ignored.


Christianity does not demonize Islam, Neither did John Paul II, Neither does Jesus and he would never sanction such gruesome comments against it.

The question now remains, why do you?

You are clearly in the wrong when your own pope and prophet stand against you.

1.3 billion people wait for an apology, Slander and Liable are illegal in all democratic countries.

~~Phoenix

Stealing my Vote

I've received my voting ballot and i've only got one thing to say:

YOU WILL NOT STEAL MY VOTE!

The threats:
Vote Obama or McCain wins and destroys the country.

You will not steal my vote. Threats like this will not work against me.

I have lost faith in both parties and i feel the manipulators need to go.
Those in power, who have been in power, for decades, have had their time.
My generation has had enough and we will remove you from power, your reign is done.

I wrote about the manipulators in this article:
http://www.theephoenix.com/2008/07/two-party-system.html


It clearly outlines the lies and cheating of both parties and shows how both of them use us.

One vote is no vote, and i refuse to vote for the powerful party that will not bring change.

South Africa has the ANC, and there is a power struggle going on with the sacking of Tabo Mbeki.

We need that same power struggle going on now.

The debates were fake

The Debates were organized by a bi-partisan commission of democrats and republicans.

They tied the hands of the Moderators in these debates by refusing them to ask secondary questions that FORCED the candidates to EXPLAIN their positions.

Must see video about this:

Our topic is discussed 1 minute into the video.




These debates are a joke, Sarah Palin WOULDN'T EVEN ANSWER THE QUESTIONS!

And where were the third parties?

I remember them in 2004 and in 2000, but they're gone now...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

America: The way it should be, not the way it is.

I'm sorry America, but I see you as you should be, through the change that should happen, and that means i will not be voting for the manipulators in this election.
Those who control massive amounts of power and who do whatever they want with it.

I will be voting 3rd party and I will vote for those who will empower the middle class, lift up the poor, and make the rich pay their fair dues.

I'm voting for Energy independence and Health care.

I'm voting for the way things should be, Not how they are.


I will not be standing with you Mr. Obama, and for the next 4 years, I will take no blame in the mistakes you make or the lies you've told.

This is a foretelling of the manipulation to come and the problems that will remain unsolved.

America hasn't gone to sleep, it just has fallen and doesn't have the will to get up and fight.
When you choose to get up America, I will be standing there with you.

I'm voting 3rd Party, I'm voting for a second choice, I'm voting for the America we believe in.

2 parties, 1 vote, what are you voting for, the same party who did nothing for you last time?

Will you let them steal your vote away again?

~~Phoenix

Love thy Neighbor as thyself.

Hate among Christians for Muslims is very prevalent nowadays.

Here's a recent posting i replied to:

What do I hate? What hate do I hope begets more hate?

I hate that Islam…
…shrouds women and treats them like cattle.
…routinely murders the innocent.
…is responsible for a growing number of “honor killings”.
…has jihad.
…denies the divinity of Christ.

Another keen observer replied back with this:

I’m not a fan of Islam, either, but I think Theephoenix has a point here in terms of intolerance. By posting things like this you only add to misconceptions and prejudice. And how can you decry the “shrouding of women” when many of your own tradition insist that a woman “shroud” herself at mass?

A third person chimed in with:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He quotes:

By posting things like this you only add to misconceptions and prejudice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What misconception am I presenting here exactly?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He quotes

And how can you decry the “shrouding of women” when many of your own tradition insist that a woman “shroud” herself at mass?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you kidding me? For the record I am not a mantilla-man myself, but if you think a lace mantilla/chapel veil like a doylee (called for by some trad Catholic under penalty of stoning, is it?) and the burkha or hijab are the same thing… Well you are a semantic fight looking for a place to happen. Give me a break.

I finally had to stem this tide of ignorance so i replied with this:

Actually the burkha is based off tradition, not religion.

I really shouldn't have to be mentioning this because I'm assuming I'm having a discussion with someone who knows all the facts.

The small headscarf is all that's required, By Islam and Christianity.

To say it oppresses women, is to say Christianity oppresses women, that's the point he was trying to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~

As for prejudice being put forward, here it is, plain and simple, the points Pope John Paul II would never say against Islam:

1)We oppress women through headscarf (If we do, Christianity does as well)

2) Routinely murder the innocent (Remember the crusades or Hitler?)

3) Is responsible for honor killings? (Christianity is too till this very day, but it was most prevalent in the 17th and 18th centuries; attending history class was very important)

4) Has Jihad (This just means "struggles to be overcome something", obviously I'm not discoursing with a person well versed in Islam. Again this does not mean war, this has been reiterated many times and a well versed person would already know it.)

5) Denies the Divinity of christ (The majority of the world is guilty of this... what's your point, we're not all christian, but that doesn't mean you can't be tolerant?)

Treat thy neighbor as thyself.

Where is the word christian in there?

Jesus would never sanction these comments, John Paul II would never sanction these comments, and the followers of such men should equally never sanction such hateful comments.

This is hate, ignorance, and arrogance at it's peak.

We gain peace through understanding.

Love thy Neighbor as thyself.

At least listen to your God, if you won't listen to mine.

~~Theephoenix

p.s: You can follow the whole conversation here:
http://theblackcordelias.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/unveiled-women-turn-men-into-beasts/

That's where this whole event took place.

What would Jesus bomb?

I don't blame the American people for the blunder of the last 8 years.

I don't blame them for the financial crisis we're living in now.

I don't blame them for electing bush once(They elected gore the other time by half a million votes).

I blame the media.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Religion Morality and Media

Religion is all about morality, freedom all about expression, and media all about the transfer of information.


These three act as a balance and help create a harmony in a country. After all what is true freedom without a moral and just people? What is true religion without the freedom to express it and the ability to reach the masses? What is media without a moral and free society?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who failed us?

Someone did fail us for the past 8 years, someone who has been keeping all their dirty little secrets hidden and sharing false propaganda.

Someone has been inflating the prices of homes and booming the stock market while the ordinary man and women lives no better.

Someone has hidden the very fabric of any free and just society, which is the accountability of it's leaders in power.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The media has the christian conservatives bombing Iraq.

The media brought 70% approval for the war when it was filled with lies.

The media lost 70% approval for the war once those lies were found.

There exists a free media, finding it is the hard part.

After finally having my eyes opened I see the media for all it is worth.

About half a year now without cable, I can finally see with unfiltered eyes and mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Stopping the Addiction


I encourage everyone to do the same as I have. Cut Cable, increase time with your family, and succeed in every goal you've set out to accomplish.

Once you're on the outside looking in, you see the manipulation of it all.

You see the chess moves made about Georgia and Russia, you see the half truths about Iraq and Iran, and you see the greed that stems from it all.


The traditional media has left us, they do not inform and they do not hold people to account for their sins.

All we can do now is wonder, how in the world did the media get christians to ask themselves what Jesus would bomb?

If they can do that, imagine what worse they can do.

~~Phoenix

Religion Created by man

Someone on youtube wrote this... yes i can't believe i'm actually quoting someone from there as if they have any merit at all, but i thought we'd raise the point anyways:

People, people...
Religion was something invented to ease the minds of humans who could not explain happenings like weather and outer space. Now that we can do that all scientifically it kinda takes religion out of the picture, Adam and Eve or evolution? I'd have to say there is much more evidence of us crawling out of the ocean billions year ago than Adam and Eve having children and somehow manifesting the billions of people of different races now walking the planet.
No religion, science.

Rather than going on with a very long and tedious response about the inefficiency of mutation and how it only removes, not adds to genetic code, i wrote this small response:

Why waste time fighting against religion when the only life you'll ever get is slowly slipping away.

Btw if you do turn out doing something amazing for humanity, we won't remember it in 1,000 years.

In summary, your life was in vain, as says you, not me.

And science, including cell biology, has disproven the theory of spontaneous generation, more than a century ago.

We did not come from scum from the ocean, that's not what i say, that's what cell biology says and has said for 100 years.

Spontaneous generation, or abiogenesis, are two words for the same thing, organic substances begotten from inorganic ones, which has never been observed or tested.

Anyone who believes in it, is a believer, someone of faith, not someone of science.

Science works within the realms of observation and experiments, anything else is just speculation and faith.

Sounds like religion may have slowly infiltrated science after all.

~~Phoenix

Some Cops and their Pride

Everyone knows about this very famous video by now, it's about a kid being tazed because he was hard to handle at a forum and was being disruptive.

Here were my comments to the fellow youtubers about that video:

If anyone here is actually bothering to listen to the kid:

He says at one point, " Can you let me go? I'll walk out of here if you let me go. Just let me go" @ 1:20

Instead the cops pin him down, continue to scream at him and threaten him with a taze, because they INSIST on arresting him...

Insist on arresting him

Insist on arresting him

Because their pride got a little bent.

Cops need to grow up and stop acting like children, a man would have let him get up and go like he'd asked.

I made those comments because the theme of the previous comments seemed to be authoritarian and negative because the kid seemed to have broken the rules of the forum or been unruly.

But the second he gave in, the second he said he'd leave, he wasn't given that chance and the officers truly abused their power.

It wasn't about stopping the kid anymore, it was about fixing their dented pride, something a lot of humans have problems with.

Fixing your pride shouldn't come at the expense of someone else's freedom, liberty, or honor, especially if you're given the legal right to.

It's why older siblings sacrifice for the younger ones, take hard blows to their pride, and suffer consequences, so that the younger siblings can learn and live in peace.

In this case, the older sibling abused his power and decided to punish the confused younger sibling who was just making a ruckus, even after the younger sibling admitted defeat.

~~Phoenix

(p.s: Sorry about the italics, for some reason my browser was having problems with blogger, and it wouldn't let me take off the italics... oh well as long as it's still legible.)

Unconditional Intervention for Israel

Intervention works in certain situations where it is our duty as a citizen of the world to save our fellow human beings.

We have lost touch with that, and now we intervene for the sake of intervening.



The video above shows our stance when it comes to Israel and how we will defend it for no good reason.

For some reason Israel is always right and everyone else (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, etc) is always wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rhetoric:

Not only do we intervene when unnecessary, we rebuke other interventions that actually are being done for good reasons.

Take the Georgia - South Ossetia war.

Georgia attacks south ossetia to topple it's democratically elected government and force it to rejoin with Georgia.

After thousands being killed, Russia comes in and stops the war, and protects South Ossetia from the invasion.

~~~~~~~~~

Our response, to rebuke and punish Russia...

And for what? Protecting South Ossetia?

~~~~~~~~~

I'm all for intervention when it's needed, like WW1 and WW2, to stop Hitler.

But we're not intervening where we should now(Somalia, Sudan, North Korea, Palestine, China, etc)

And we're starting conflicts where we shouldn't (Iran, Georgia, Russia, etc)

~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the consequence of intervention where it isn't needed:




I hope America wakes up before another attack.

I blame the media for helping lull Americans to sleep and spinning propaganda day and night.

Media reform is desperately needed in times like these, where the truth is being covered up 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

~~Phoenix

Middle class

Check out this video of Ben stein and his definition of middle class:



250 thousand... and you're just middle class...

That's the difference between need and greed, he can't tell the difference and as a result he sees middle class as 50-250k....

The average median income as of 2007 was $50,233 ..... how do you stretch that to 250k?
Source: US Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf

Pg: 13

I'd recommend saving that pdf file btw, very good reading.

~~~~~~~~

If he had said 50-100k, I'd give him that just barely.... 100k is really good, but still i wouldn't call him crazy.

But 250k.... or 200k, or 220k, or 180k, or 150k.... middle class?

Is a bmw really necessary, private schooling....

He's out of touch with reality.

Surging inspiration

Surging inspiration comes with a cost, a muse that will not come for free.

It's like a world passing you by, slowly swirling but never truly delving into anything.

With every slow step and dive you make, you find everything else swirling around you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

You fall in the ocean, it seeming calm from above, but the water droplets, just fly by you, just enough time to sink deep in your heart, but not enough time to stay there.


~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes you see the droplet heading for rough waters and you want to warn it, but it gets away too soon.

Other times you want to hold it close and have it forever, but it leaves you because you can't grasp it.

Then there is the droplet which delves deep into you, and disappears before you know it.
A shadow all your given, the true spirit hidden and flying away, in mere seconds.

Which hurts more? The one that accepts you but you can't accept it, or the one who shakes the fibers of your being and disappears?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inspiration comes with a cost, a muse that does not come free.

The emotions evoked, come from a surge from within.

To be inspired or to be satisfied.

The inspired appreciates satisfaction more than the satisfied ever would.

But the satisfied yearns to be inspired, searching for it with every breath, not knowing the cost that comes with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So now, you the droplet have to decide.

Do you walk the paved road that sits in front of you, happiness never truly appreciated given to you at every stride?

Or do you search the woods around you for inspiration, finding it and straying from the path, possibly never to find satisfaction again.

If you start on the road, then survive the woods, you get the best of both worlds and appreciate every step you take on the paved road.

I've been lost between both for a long while, unable to grasp the road when i saw it, and so i journeyed through the woods for years, this blog ushering forth the inspiration.

Cuts, scars, bruises, and darkness, a forever longing, a never ending want of satisfaction.

And either the droplets flew past me leaving a bit of themselves, or they stayed to dive deep, but were shunned away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I found the road, i see it now, it has everything i could ever want.
I would appreciate it more; to just be able to take one step on it would mean more than a mile with others.

There's a trial i must face before I'm given entry onto the road, a trial that would make me better in every single way, a cleansing process to be with those who walk on the road.

But if i walk, if i get back on the paved path, at the wrong moment, it brings about my destruction, in a slow and grueling way, being cast asunder, loosing all i've gained.

I have to time everything right, get back on the road at the precise moment.

But it taunts me, even now, i see it, it's called out to me, like the droplet that stayed wanting to be there but being shunned instead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Getting on the road at the precise time is the key, or destruction is inevitable.

Not getting on at the right time leaves me lost in the woods forever, never tasting satisfaction.

But sitting here and waiting as I'm doing now, kills me slowly.

Like a circle of air around me, entering me and surging me with inspiration, keeping me alive till the time is right to get satisfaction.

With each surge a piece of the soul jerks forward, falling many times into the traps that lay around me.

They will disappears in time as long as i time everything correctly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I see the road, it sees me, and all I'm left with is surging inspiration.
I'm watching people walk on it, as happy as can be.
I see them walk onto their destruction, having not timed their entrance on the road right.

And yet i still long to be one of them, for they step on a paved road that is forbidden to me with all the wants and desires i could ever ask for.

Their destruction should phase me, should make me stop and look and wait and plan and time properly.

The numerous traps that are around the road that circle the forest are warnings to not come near til the time is right.

But waiting destroys me too, with each blast of surging inspiration.
I lower my head to the ground, shove my hands deep into the sand, and lay down falling asleep.

The inspiration pushes deep inside me, shaking me to my core, the whispers of desire flow from the road to my ear.

My eyes watch it as it goes by.

I see them walking to their destruction, and yet i don't know if i can stop myself from not being one of them.

I push my hands deeper in the sand, and the wind keeps swirling fast into me, like sharp lines.
My trial begins and i start to succeed and a reward is presented, a curse in hiding.

The path to the road, the beautiful road, the road i wish to walk on, is freed from traps.
I'm allowed to walk onto it, free as soon as my trial ends.

Free to walk to my destruction, or wait a while longer for grace and then walk on the road at the appropriate time.

I stand taking a step towards the road.

I watch it from afar.... i watch it from afar... i watch it from afar

If i go now, temporary happiness and bliss awaits, but sure destruction comes later.

If i wait, i wait for long, not knowing exactly how long, and i risk being destroyed if i miss the timing.

I'm in the ocean with surging water droplets all around me and yet i can't grasp a single one.
I'm cursed, or gifted, with the power to see the purity of each one.
Yet even the most pure i can't have.

The true cost of inspiration is paid.

Can you wait for a time never given?
Would you sit for that time, finding it later to be a 1,000 years?

Can you seek a satisfaction promised, only seen and told about?
Or would you seek your own and be given every desire a human has ever dreamed of?
Would you risk the chance that your choice of instant gratification could possibly destroy you?

Or would you wait for a time never given, for an opportunity only seen, and a promise only whispered?

I still sit today with inspiration driving through me like knives, going through my soul, and surging emotions deep within me.

The difference is now there are no traps in front of me to get to the road i seek, now that I'm about to pass the trial of the road.

The question is... do i now walk my clear path, do i listen to the calls that beckon me from the road, or do i wait with surging inspiration tearing through me and enslaving me to my emotions?

I wait for now, tomorrow i promise to wait again, but the future has only ever been one thing, a cloudy secret of hope and uncertainty.

I feel the wind hitting me, emotions coming from the muse i pay.

A cost too high for most.

A solace never truly known to come.

A path promised, but yards away at my taking.

A curse, a gift, a hope, a choice, a feeling away from grace or destruction.

A feeling away from destruction.

A feeling away from instant gratification.

A promise I wait for, left unfulfilled, for today at least.

And a muse who enslaves me with my very own emotions.

The road whispers, it beckons, it destroys, and yet i still want it.

I hope for protection and for patience from this never ending enslavement, waiting for contentment.

And all the while I'm taunted and slashed, with surging inspiration.

Consumer Spending - Part 1 (Farmer Bob and Farmer Joe)

I rarely get inspired to write at night but this subject is something that has been marinating in my head for a few days now and it seems like it all needs to burst out now.

America has been successful for many reasons but the most troubling also seems the most important. It seems the success we put on for the world is truly just a mirage.

It's all a facade(pronounced Fa sod [a showy misrepresentation intended to conceal something unpleasant ]). Who says you can't learn new words on this blog!!!! :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farmer Bob and Farmer Joe

Before we get into all the facts and figures, I wanted to make sure everyone had a clear grasp of the problem so a small analogy like story should do.


So farmer bob is a hard worker, he makes enough money to get by his day to day life and he lives pretty comfortably. But farmer bob has a new baby on the way and really needs that extra income.

So farmer bob devises a plan. He has plenty of extra seeds and land for which to grow a new cash crop on but he lacks gasoline to power his tracker the extra 2 acres. :(

He doesn't have any spare money either, so he can't just go out and buy the extra gasoline he needs.

Farmer bob becomes very sad until one day he meets farmer Joe in a grocery store. He overhears him saying that he has extra gasoline and he doesn't know what to do with it and no one will buy it from him.

Farmer bob later decides to talk to farmer Joe and they settle on an agreement to give farmer bob the extra gasoline for free as long as farmer Joe gets paid after the harvest of the new 2 acres of land.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The problem arises - A debt unpaid

After half a year the crop is ready and sold and farmer bob gets the extra profits from the new land he had planted.

He makes more than enough to pay farmer Joe, and take good care of his new infant, and pay for next years gasoline.

But Farmer bob gets kinda greedy though and spends most of the extra money he gets, leaving him not having enough to pay for farmer Joe's gasoline.

He talks the problem over with farmer Joe and Joe tells bob he forgives him and that the gasoline he gave him was extra anyways.

So they devise a new system, Joe will give farmer bob the gasoline he needs again this year so he can make a new cash crop again, and next harvest farmer bob will pay farmer Joe back in full.

All farmer bob has to do now is pay farmer Joe 10% of the money he owed to farmer Joe this year, as interest, and next year he can use the money he gets to pay last years, this years, and next years gasoline.

The plan seems simple and Farmer bob has more than enough to pay Joe's small 10% interest fee and help take care of his new infant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The never ending cycle begins

A year passes again and the new crop is harvested again and farmer bob receives his money.

He gets kind of tempted at the new farming equipment and is sadly tricked into buying it by the salesmen.

Again he goes to his friend Joe, not able to pay and Joe says the same thing he said last year.

"Don't worry my friend, it was extra gasoline as well, just pay me 10% and you can pay the last two seasons gasoline next year. You make more than enough in one harvest to pay 10 gasoline load fulls. "

Farmer bob feels delighted and again can take care of his now 1 year old infant, using the money he saved on her, and now having NEW farming equipment!

His life is really looking up and none of the other farmers can understand how he afforded all that shiny new equipment!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The period of fake happiness begins


This cycle continues and this is the result:

Joes actual gasoline cost is 100 dollars for 2 acres, but farmer bob only pays 10%
Farmer bob makes 1000 dollars extra per each harvest.
His infant needs 500 dollars the rest he uses to buy things, such as a new car, farming equipment, etc.

		10% interest of $100	subtract 500 for infant
	Harvests	Joes gasoline cost	Extra money gained	New amount owed
	1st harvest	10	490	100
1 year	2nd harvest	20	480	200
	3rd harvest	30	470	300
2 years	4th harvest	40	460	400
	5th harvest	50	450	500
3 years	6th harvest	60	440	600
	7th harvest	70	430	700
4 years	8th harvest	80	420	800
	9th harvest	90	410	900
5 years	10th harvest	100	400	1000

Money injected into the economy(Money bob wastes, total of extra money gained column): $4,450

So farmer bob now pays interest equal to the amount of gasoline he pays per year, but that's better than paying 1000 dollars and being left with nothing for his new child!!! :(

There's a catch now though... his infant is all grown up now, and 500 dollars just won't do.

New clothes almost every year because he's growing, and school supplies, inflation of the economy, and a bigger mouth to feed are all adding up.

And rather than saving up his money, farmer bob used it all every year, to buy new things he probably didn't need.

Now he needs to make 1,000 dollars for his growing child.

He sits down and speaks to Farmer Joe again, and farmer Joe agrees to give him double the amount of gasoline he gave him before, so farmer bob can use the 2 acres of land he has left to try and take care of his new child.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fake happiness widens

Lets see what happens:

He makes 2000 dollars extra now, but he looses 1,000 because of his child.

		farmer Joe payment	subtract 1000 for child	New amount due
	11th harvest	120	880	1200
6 years	12th harvest	140	860	1400
	13th	160	840	1600
7 years	14th	180	820	1800
	15th	200	800	2000
8 years	16th	220	780	2200
	17th	240	760	2400
9 years	18th	260	740	2600
	19th	280	720	2800
10 years	20th	300	700	3000

Farmer bob is really happy now, he doesn't care that he's paying 300 dollars now for 200 dollars of fuel.

He makes an extra 700+ dollars a year!!!

His new child is well fed, he uses ALL that extra money to buy stuff (DOUBLE what he was getting before), and he's living happier than all the other farmers.

Money injected into the economy(Money bob wastes, total of extra money gained column continued): $4,450 + 7900 = $12,350

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The point of no return


This cycle continues for another 5 years, all the while the child grows up in the most comfortable house you could ever imagine, especially for a farmer.

	21st	320	680	3200
11 years	22nd	340	660	3400
	23rd	360	640	3600
12 years	24th	380	620	3800
	25th	400	600	4000
13 years	26th	420	580	4200
	27th	440	560	4400
14 years	28th	460	540	4600
	29th	480	520	4800
15 years	30th	500	500	5000

There is one catch though with teenagers, and that's the fact that at 15 they are going to need more than what they needed at 10.

It seems farmer bob now needs to make 1500 dollars for his new teenage son. Sadly that leaves him with no extra money. He has a small savings, he owns his house now, and he has no idea how he can make the 10% payment to Farmer Joe.

Money injected into the economy(Money bob wastes, total of extra money gained column continued): $4,450 + 7900 = $12,350 + 5900 = $18,250

As you can see, farmer bob is in a big problem.
He owes Farmer Joe 5,000 dollars, he can't pay him for next years gasoline, and therefore can't pay for his extra son to live in his own home.

What is he to do?

While talking to a few neighbors and just thinking in his home, he discovers a grim secret.
He finds out that Farmer Joe has been handing out extra gasoline to other farmers, after they saw Farmer Bob making huge amounts of money and buying lots of items.
That was 5 years after farmer bob started.

They too wanted a great home, with all the extra money to use, and the fake happiness that came with it, so they arranged similar deals with Farmer Joe.

But because they had higher interest rates and they didn't have too much extra land like farmer bob had, the vast majority of them are in the same boat as farmer bob.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The local economy crumbles

That year, the local economy suffered.
The group of farmers had to take out a loan to buy time to think out another course of action.

But since there was no extra money left, none of the farmers went on a shopping spree and they didn't spend the big amounts of money they used to.

Since they had no extra money, they didn't buy anything extra at all.

Of the 30 some stores in that small and booming city, 20 of them went into bankruptcy, some of them unique stores with no competition that the city needed.

But what can a business do if it has hardly any money and not even 1/10th the customers it used to?

The fate of the city remains unknown, but the skies were getting darker, and it seemed like the sun might never rise again.

Wait for part 2 of the consumer spending series to see how this story reflects our current crisis and to finally get into all those facts and figures.

~~Phoenix