Passion and Living

With our government edging closer to defaulting on our nation's debt, I am not even going to consider talking about it.  There is not much more that can be said that hasn't already.  We elected idiots into office and now they are going to screw us royally it seems like.  So in this time of seemingly national calamity, I would much rather talk about the individuals that make up this country and for that matter every country.  Before we go any farther, I want everyone to stop reading for a minute and think about what their passion is.  What do you love to do?  What drives you in life?  What makes you who you are and gives you the strength to go to work each day and live?   While everyone is thinking, I will play some elevator music... (dum de dum dum dum, la de da).  OK, enough with the elevator music.  Who was actually able to figure out in that short time what you are passionate about?  Some may have thought about it before, others might have simply never thought about it and as such had a harder time coming up with their "passion" in life.  So what is the big deal about passion.  I believe that passion separates those who grab life by the horns and make it their own versus those who simply let the horns live their life for them.  I am sure that almost everyone reading this knows to a certain extent what I am talking about.  In your everyday life, you run across hundreds of people, most who you don't know, who either have passion or they don't.   You can see the passion in their faces or you can see the lack of it.  Those who lack passion, for me, are the people who physically drain me just by being around them.  There is a certain substance that is lacking from their being which seems to suck the life dry from everything around them.  There are many reasons for this, but I feel the biggest reason is that they never figure out who they are and what they are actually doing with their life.   I feel that figuring out who we are is, for many of us, an endless struggle that changes day to day and year to year.  A passion that drove you a year or even ten years ago may not be the same passion that drives you today.   But if we stop trying to figure out who we are and what drives us, we inevitably succumb to life and become one of the people who sucks life from any room they enter. 

Can we live a life without passion?  Definitely, there are millions of people who live life without passion and for them, they may not consider it a bad life.  But I think that to a certain extent, those who do not try to figure out themselves and what they are passionate about always have doubts, regrets, or simply an empty hole within themselves and that after a while they become unaware of it and for some turns into depression.  Life begs us to live it to the fullest, to find our passion and follow it wherever it may lead.  This is not always an easy task as we are ever changing human beings that never truly remain the same.  Sometimes, following our passion may require making drastic changes in our life that in and of themselves may be difficult.  If we can figure out how to make those changes however, persevere, and come out on the other side, the fulfillment we  feel will exceed any struggle we went through to get there.  So what am I passionate about?  (Not that it matters to many, but it may offer insight to some, so I figured I would share).  Family aside which I love and would go to the ends of the world to protect, my passions are always in flux and I find myself constantly re-examining myself to see where it is I need to go in life.  One of the things I am passionate about and always have been is writing.  Ever since I was a teenager, writing has been a part of my life, whether it was fiction, poetry, or the type of writing I am doing on this blog.  In order to fulfill this passion, I had to put certain things aside to make time to write.  So how do I fit it in?  I get up at 4 in the morning, take the dogs on a walk, and start writing here, at first commenting on world issues and news topics and now it seems, tweaking it slightly.  Normally it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to write each piece you see here, all that before I go to work for the day.  But that is only part of my passion.  I do not make money doing this, I simply write and share with whoever wishes to read it.  But what about the rest of my life.   I am currently losing passion for my job, a self employed painting contractor, not because I don't enjoy painting anymore, but because I would much rather paint on my terms than someone else's and perhaps the biggest reason is that for the majority of the day, I stare at walls by myself and have no one to talk to.  The lack of human interaction has become draining for me and before it turns me into one of those people without passion, a change needs to be made.  Where is that leading me?  In the complete opposite direction to be perfectly honest. 

To preface where my passion is leading me, I need to first explain where this passion started from.  A few years ago, I went to a yoga class.  I found that I was actually pretty good at it and truly enjoyed it.  I went to a few more and in an effort to save money, bought a few DVD's so I could practice yoga at home.  It got to the point where I was practicing every day.   Well, if you couldn't figure it out, that is my next move, my new passion; to become a yoga instructor.   So what about the business I built from the ground up over six years and saw growth throughout every year despite the economy?  I don't know yet.  If I can figure out a way to find someone as good as painting as I am, then perhaps I will keep the business going.   If not, I am not tied to it and would have no problems moving on, either keeping it on the sidelines for small jobs here and there, selling it, or even closing it.  That is my passion.   What is yours?  Are you still happy where you are in life or is there some pull within you that is telling you to explore other options?  If you feel any pull whatsoever, don't ignore it, but rather dig deep within yourself to see what it is that is nagging you, pushing you, or trying to make you aware of a desire within yourself for something other than what you are doing.  Change is often looked upon by many people with fear and trepidation.  There are questions about what is on the other side or how it will work out.   Others will question your motives and decisions, sometimes even telling you that it will not work.  When I left college to invest myself fully in my business, I could not even tell you how many people thought it was a stupid move and wouldn't work.  They said a college degree was more important.  To me, my happiness and satisfaction were far more important than getting a piece of paper saying that I learned something.  This is not to say that college was or is not worthwhile.  I learned so much from my time there and do not regret any move I made while there.  I got the most out of my college experience, all five years of it, but in the end, the framed piece of paper was not what I was looking for at the time.  I followed my passion and grew my business.  

Everyone is different.  Some people's passion may not change over the course of their whole life time, other's may change in just a few years.  The most important thing is to be in tune with yourself and your passion and allow it to flourish and guide you through life.  If your passions remains the same, stick with it and follow it.  If not, make the changes necessary to ensure satisfaction and fulfillment within your own life.  I firmly believe that regardless of what the economy or world conflicts may bring, if we find our passion and follow it, we will be successful.  Our passion requires our effort to see it through and needs constant supervision.  We all have it within ourselves to become the best person we could possibly be.  The other part that is necessary is to find those people who can support your decision and stand behind you regardless of what happens.  Even if you can't find those people to support you, while it may be a little more difficult, success will be imminent if you strive for it.  Today, as it is Friday and we are on the cusp of another wonderful weekend, take some time to consider what it is that drives you, what that passion is that resides within you, and see if it is in tune with what your are doing with your life.  If you can't figure it out today, spend some more time tomorrow, and the day after that until you can figure out what that passion is.  Don't let life slip through your hands and let yourself become one of the millions who simply float through life.  Be the captain of your ship and sail it to the ends of the earth.  (OK, so a little corny at the end, but run with it people)  Till Monday, seize the day every day. 

What About Vaccines?

Did you know that any child born today in the United States will receive over 150 shots by the time they are 18?  150 shots of mostly unknown substances pumped into their bodies, many in the name of medicine, and all purportedly to keep them "healthy".  For anyone who has had a child, you know that almost from the time your baby is born, doctors come in with needles ready to begin a lifetime of vaccination procedures, they say to "protect" the baby.  I would question how many of them actually know what is in the vaccines they are utilizing and how many, if they did know, would succumb to the same treatment they are forcing upon newborns and later on, children.  Even as adults, we are bombarded with new and "fantastic" vaccines to prevent against disease and illness, yet do they really work?  I could go on for a very long time about vaccines, the rights of parents and children, and the efficacy of them, but I will attempt to keep it brief.  For more information about vaccines, their efficacy, and the potential damage they can cause, please visit Dr. Sherry Tenpenny's website.   Lets start this whole topic off with some of the substances that can actually be found in vaccines. 

Most of us know that dangers of mercury, the substance that used to be found in old thermometers and the substance that governments across the world have spoken of the dangers.  Well, did you know that mercury, in the pharmaceutical industry known as Thimerosal, is found as a preservative in many vaccines?  It is in essence a neurotoxic substance that can endanger the lives of anyone who receives it.  Will everyone be affected by it?  No, but the fact that the danger is there, especially to young children and infants should be enough to send parents scrambling.  So what else can you find in vaccines?  How about formaldehyde?  Yes, it can be found as preservative in many vaccines as well despite the fact that it is most widely used to preserve the bodies of dead animals.  Now who reading this would readily drink a cup of formaldehyde?  I know I wouldn't, and granted, vaccines do not contain a cup's worth of formaldehyde in them, but it shouldn't matter how much or how little can be found in vaccines, it is there.  And I am not even close to done.  Before I move on however, let me just clue you in to one other ingredient found in most vaccines that I find abhorrent, aluminum hydroxide.  Yup, that wonderful substance aluminum that has now been found to speed up the onset of Alzheimer's disease can be found in almost every vaccine out there.  If you are interested, or scared for that matter to find out what else can be found in vaccines, please check out the following link to the Center for Disease Control website.  If you scroll down a little on the page, you will find two links, one to a list of ingredients sorted by ingredient and the other sorted by vaccine. 

So now that you know some of the ingredients in vaccines, are they really effective?  Our government would have us believe that they are.  Yet there have been studies done that show vaccines to be virtually ineffective at preventing against contraction of a disease.  One major disease from the early 20th century that vaccines were supposed to have helped eradicate was polio.  Yet if you dig deep enough and look at the facts, polio was already on the decline world wide when the vaccine was introduced.  Further, when the vaccine was introduced, there were two different symptoms that were considered to be polio, yet after the vaccine, only one was considered to be polio, an effort to prove the efficacy of the vaccine itself and reduce the number of polio cases.   More recent studies have shown that in outbreaks of measles, populations that had a higher rate of vaccination were actually more susceptible to contraction, illness, and death than populations with a very low or nonexistent vaccination rate (U.S. vs. Poland).  And does anyone know how the Raggedy Anne doll came into existence?  The doll was created after a parent's child was injected with a vaccine against his consent and consequently turned into a vegetable and died.  Morbidly depressing?  Absolutely, and for me, all this is enough to reject the use of any vaccine on a child.  Now you may be wondering, "I thought the government mandated vaccines to be given to every single child?"  They try, but it is not an absolute necessity...yet.  The government is attempting to relinquish every American's ability to live a life without toxic chemicals in there system, yet to date they have not succeeded. 

Currently, there are two options to save your child from a life of needles, chemicals, and useless vaccinations.  The first option is to get an exemption form based upon medical objections.  Basically, this method is more difficult than the second because it involves getting a pediatrician to sign a document saying that vaccinations will cause adverse effects in a child if given to them.   This is mostly given to families with a history of adverse reactions to substances commonly found in vaccines.  Try finding a pediatrician to sign this type of document.  I guarantee that you will be looking long and hard with very little, if any, success.  The second option is to get an exemption form based on religious objections.   This basically says that any vaccine to be given is in direct contradiction with your religious beliefs.  This option is much easier to utilize, although I guarantee that hospitals and pediatricians alike will not be happy with you for getting any sort of exemption form.  If you are interested, the following link goes to a site that has exemption forms for almost every state as well as a number of other countries.  With this exemption form in hand, any child does not need to be vaccinated in order to attend school, another fallacy that our government uses to promote the use and spread of vaccination.  So why, after reading all this information (I know it is a lot packed into a tight space), would anyone want to vaccinate their child or for that matter themselves?  There are many people out there who will flat out disagree with me and all the information that I have presented, but so be it, I am not asking anyone to buy my theory or drastically change their mentality about vaccines. 

The whole purpose of my writing this is to hopefully present some information that people can use a stepping stone to find out more about vaccines themselves.  I would sincerely hope that people would not just eat what our government feeds them as many do, but go out a do a little research on their own and find out the truth behind all the propaganda.  Pharmaceutical companies and our government will claim till the end of the world that vaccines are effective and that everyone should get them, but what about our free will?  Do we not have a choice about how to live our lives freely and decide what we put into our bodies?   The notion of free will is based upon us making educated decisions.  If we decide to go along for the ride and succumb to what everyone says, where does that leave us at the end of the day?  If our government told us it would be beneficial to our health to jump off a bridge, would we do it?  I would hope that we would question the basis of any claim the government makes and research it, yet unfortunately there are many people who will just go along for that ride, jumping off the bridge not knowing if there is water or rocks at the bottom.  Today, question everything, question your own beliefs, question the government, in fact, question everything you are told.  Do not just believe me because I present a number of links and purported facts, do your own research.  Live a little today and exact some freedom for yourself!  (And if you find this information to be disconcerting, depressing, but informative, pass the link to this post along.)

Ego and the Family

It seems, at least to me, that there is only so much that can be said about lying politicians, world conflicts, and environmental issues without seeming somewhat repetitive and increasing boredom in the process.   Unless things drastically change, politicians will continue to bicker and lie, sending our country on a downwards spiral and unless people drastically change, the temperature across the world will continue to rise and conflicts will increase in number.  Hence, I am going to stray away from the news once again and talk about the one constant that will remain regardless of what happens in the world, the family unit.  After all, the family is what perpetuates society from a basic level and is also the core unit of any country.  Without a family, one could argue, we wouldn't exist.  So what is the basis of any family?  I would posit that any family, anywhere in the world is first started with love between two people, whether it be a physical, mental, or spiritual.  Yes, I am portraying love in overly vague way, but without digressing and labeling attraction as any other form, I will use love as the basis.  Without a doubt, any love starts with some sort of attraction between two people and some would not even call that love.  But I would.  Any one person can feel attracted to many individuals, but why then do most of us end up spending most of our lives with one other person?  It is because any strong attraction, if felt between two people, builds to love and can be sustained.  When a family grows, i.e. children are born, then that love also grows and spreads to envelope those new additions to the family.  The family unit grows, expands, and eventually grows more.  Within that family unit, while love should be a constant, there will on occasion be disputes and arguments, trials and tribulations.  These rough times, as we know them, are not due to a faltering in love as I see it, but are due to the fact that fundamentally, we are all unique human beings and will not always agree on everything.  When any argument does arise, there is only one way to inevitably resolve issues and move past them to grow the family in strength and love.  That way is to put aside any ego we may carry with us and seek to understand the other person for who they are. 

So what about our ego?  Are ego's even necessary?  I would state definitively that any person's ego is necessary to their survival, however, when an ego grows to large, it can ultimately lead to our demise, and therein lies the issue.  Our ego is there to sustain our vision of our own self worth and as such it is an integral part of who we are.  Our ego, as defined in the dictionary, is our consciousness of our own identity and also, an inflated feeling of pride in our superiority to others.  It is this second aspect of our ego that can inevitably get us into trouble and perpetuate any issue we have with others.  Is anyone superior to anyone else?  Some people would argue that we are based upon our intellect, our physical ability, or our overall ability to succeed and overcome adversity.  If we take this view, which I even do at times, we are in essence saying that while we are all unique individuals, there are some of us who are lacking and thus unworthy.  However, everyone of us has a purpose in life and as such, will not have the exact same abilities as those around us.  Where one person is "lacking", another may excel and so on.   In my mind, what we must all strive to do is recognize this fundamental difference between every person and seek to diminish our feeling of superiority.  If we in any way portray that feeling of superiority to others, it will shut them down and make them feel smaller than they really are and perhaps degrade their own ego.  If we can seek to understand more fully our own identity and where our identity places us in relation to others, then we can ultimately build our understanding of humans as unique individuals and move forward with mutual respect instead of a steadfast superiority complex.  If we can all achieve this feeling of mutual respect based upon our understanding of our own identity, then any issue that arises between two individuals can be resolved much more quickly as there is already a basis of acceptance to move forward with.  (I will be the first to admit that I struggle continuously with this, but since I recognize it, I can work on it).

So how does this all tie together, the ego and the family.  If we are to understand our own identity and diminish our feeling of superiority anywhere, it should start first within our family as our family is what made us who we are and sustains us through life.  Friends come and go, some stay, but we are tied forever to our family and as such should approach everyone within our family with respect, dignity, and understanding.  This is perhaps one of the most difficult areas to arrive at with understanding, for if we do not understand who we are, then understanding others within our own family will be incredibly difficult.  This is because any individual within a family is more similar to each other than to others outside the family.  We share more traits, more attitudes, more likeness, than we do to anyone else and as such we often collide and disagree over petty differences because we can't look past the issue at hand.  Any issue that does arise, is viewed similarly by multiple individuals within a family and if we can't understand why others have an issue with it, it is because we don't understand ourselves.  In order to resolve any issue within our family, we must fully understand ourselves, or at least seek to understand ourselves.  The only way we can move forward with this is by putting aside any feelings of superiority that we may carry.    How many times have you heard it said, "I'm nothing like my mother/father", yet are told by others that you are more similar than you may think?  I see it within my own family and I am sure that if you look hard it enough, you can see it within yours.   Once we can come to understand how similar we are to others within our family, then the sooner we can move to reach a mutual understanding.  If for some reason we refuse to see this similarity, we can never resolve any issue.  In order to reach this mutual understanding, we must communicate with each other more so than at any other time.  Communication, as I have said in other posts, is the only way to resolve anything.  (Yes, I struggle with this as well.)  In the end, what I feel we must all do, is work to resolve issues within our family and within ourselves whenever they arise.  Our family will be there for the duration of our lives.  It is solely up to us to ensure that our family unit is cohesive and sound.  If issues do arise, do not let them fester and grow.  Seek to resolve them for the sake of the family unit.  You can not receive any type of love similar to that you will receive from your family.  If you take away one member of a family, you are inevitably taking away part of the your love you receive and that in turn diminishes who we are.  So today, if there are issues within your family, put aside any feelings of superiority and seek to open channels of communication to resolve these issues. 

Appreciating Those Around Us

How many of us have friends and family?  I would say that for the majority of people reading this, including myself, the answer would be affirmative.  Now, how many of us have taken the time recently to thank those around them for being who they are, especially if they are supportive and loving?  I don't know about anyone else, but I know that I don't thank those around me often enough or recognize how much of an impact they have on my life.  Before I get to far, I do want to say that this post is not derived from any article in the NYTimes or other online publication, rather it is derived from experiences that I have had over the past month or so and have accumulated into a unique appreciation for those around me.  A number of events have transpired that have added to this, but I will focus on only a few for now.  The first that occurred was a BBQ that I had at our house.  We had between 20 and 30 people show up, all of them friends and I would say, all of them I could trust my life with.  This group ranged from friends I had known for decades to friends that have only been around a few years.  To gather around you people who are like-minded and supportive is a blessing.  To me, it had the ability of re-invigorating my own life by realizing that there are people out there who care for me.  Often times, in the day to day grind of going to work, coming home, going to sleep and repeating it all over again, I am sure that we all lose sight of what is actually important in this life we are living.  It is not the money we make (although we need it to live), but the most important thing is the people around us who we feed off of and who to a certain extent make us who we are.  If we surround ourselves with miserable people who we call friends and hang out with yet are not really supportive, then we will most likely feel depressed and forlorn.  If those around us are positive and full of life, then we are more likely to embrace a positive attitude and remain happy for longer. 

The only part of the BBQ that I regret is that I did not get the chance to talk to every person and thank them for being who they are and being supportive in their own way whether they realize it or not.  Often times, being supportive is not about offering words of support (although the words are important), but being positive and engaging.  After the BBQ, one of my long time friends who had attended invited my wife and I to a small intimate cookout with about 6 people at his house.  Upon getting there, the feeling I received when walking through the door was totally different than the feeling I got at my BBQ.  It was not just because of the location, it was the people there.  Personally, I do not see how this good friend of mine can consider these people his friends (totally my opinion here).  I used to hang out with some of them years ago, but drifted away as I never really considered them close friends.  They had their moments of positivity, but they were few and far between when looking at the big picture.  Mostly, they complained about their lot in life, were miserable and critical.  It wasn't even the fact that they were critical in general, they seemed to be overly critical of my friend who had them over to his house.  As the evening progressed, I watched my friend slowly become more miserable and depressed.  It got to the point where my wife and I couldn't take the complaining any more and excused ourselves so we could go home.  On the way home, I made sure I thanked my wife for being who she was and made sure she knew that I loved her.   In short, it put into perspective a lot of things.  If my circle of friends was similar to those miserable people at my friend's BBQ, I would be a depressed SOB with seemingly nothing to look forward to. 

Having had two BBQ's within a week of each other followed by a family pool party with people I love around me made me realize how often I don't thank those people in my life for being who they are.  Yes, I appreciate them, but if you don't tell them you love them or appreciate them, how are they supposed to know?  I know that I personally need those words to be said to me every so often, especially when I am working long days and am exhausted when I come home.  To hear my wife say "Thank you for being who you are", or "Your a wonderful person"  instantly boosts my mood and is like caffeine for my mentality.  If I have had a bad day and hear her say that, it instantly brings me to life and gives me the energy I need to keep on going.  It is these subtle words and attitudes in life that have the ability to keep us going, re-energize us, and enable us to live a life that is positive and engaging.  In my mind, there is nothing worse than having the feeling like you are being taken advantage of or that nobody around you loves or appreciates you.  Actions often times are not enough, the words need to be said.  Think of the positive impact you can have on the loved ones around you just by saying "Thank you"  even if they haven't done anything.  We all have the tendency to get stuck in vicious cycles where we close out those around us and focus solely on ourselves.  We must struggle to get out of this cycle and leave work at work, and live a different life around those we love.  Today, if you haven't said it recently to friends or family, reach out to them and simply tell them you appreciate them for who they are and thank them for being in your life.  I guarantee that it will both make a difference in their life and in yours.  Live today like the present that it is and realize that all those around you are part of that present.

Drought Increasing Re-used Water

Sewage treatment plants, to many people, are simply places that we don't want to drive by because of the smell that often times emanates from them.  We know what goes on there and want nothing to do with it.  However, in times of drought, sewage treatment plants are getting outfitted with new technology to make the treated water coming out of them safer and more usable by the general population.  One state in particular is taking the lead in re-using this treated water from sewage plants.  This state is Texas, currently dealing with the third worst drought in recorded history, as of now having lasted ten long months.   While treated waste water has long been re-used in this state, the amount being re-used versus using fresh water is approaching 14%.   This is significant considering that the population is continually growing while reservoirs are diminishing at an alarming rate.  Currently, most of the treated waste water is going to parks and golf courses to water the grass while some is even making into water features such as fountains in various cities.  So what is the difference between a normal sewage treatment plant simply dumping the treated water into rivers versus the newer ones directly funneling the water to specific places for direct use?  Well, under normal circumstances when the water is dumped directly into waterways, there is greater loss due to evaporation and absorption into the surrounding soil.  This in and of itself provides for an enormous loss of water.  By directly funneling the treated water to golf courses and parks, very little water is wasted along the way and it is actually cheaper to buy than fresh water from aquifers or reservoirs.  New technology is also making the water much safer than it has been in the past.  The biggest part of the new technology is the use of ultraviolet light to kill bacteria and micro-organisms that are normally harmful.  Conventional plants use chlorine to neutralize the bacteria, however, in large doses, chlorine is harmful as well. 

So where is this technology headed?  Eventually, all treated waste water would be re-used in entirety, not just for watering golf courses and parks, but for use by humans in daily life.  With the planet warming, populations growing, and available water diminishing at alarming rates, it has become almost necessary for the general public to overcome their qualms about using treated waste water in everyday life.  Obviously many of us would still have reservations about actually drinking it, but if we could use treated water to flush toilets, take showers with, and use it generally around the house, we would be saving fresh water and extending our ability to use it in the future.  Most of the states currently utilizing treated waste water to its fullest extent are in the South and have become accustomed to droughts and lack of fresh water.  They have begun to realize that if they don't find new ways to treat the water and re-use it in even greater ways, they will be facing larger problems in the future.  Even so, we in the United States are not suffering as badly as people in other countries.  Take some of the countries in Africa or the Middle East that now need to truck in fresh water into their cities because there is no available fresh water for them to use.  New technology provided to them to treat waste water and re-use it would be nothing but beneficial.  There needs to be a global effort to provide this technology to as many countries as possible.  If countries drain their aquifers and reservoirs and are unable to truck in fresh water, populations will eventually be forced to move elsewhere, there will be no other choice.  If populations are forced to move, it will increase the amount of conflicts that we will need to deal with.   Without fresh water, we can not survive.  By treating waste water more effectively and re-using it to the fullest potential, we can essentially extend the life of desert cities and allow populations to slowly find new ways of dealing with less water.  This, however, depends greatly upon the generosity of wealthier nations and a desire in general to help those in need.

There have already been riots across the world due to food shortages.  Water, as we all know is needed to grow food and as such, we need to be able to provide that water in order to sustain the world's food supply.  We will sink into a vicious downward spiral if we do not address this fundamental shortage we are experiencing now.  People can talk about food shortages and providing food to other countries, but if we do not have water to grow the food, none of that can happen.  Steps need to be taken now both to curb our water usage and increase our ability to re-use water from treatment plants.  The technology is there, we just need to make it available to more people and countries.   For those of us in areas that are not suffering from water shortages, we should make the effort now to curb water usage and preserve as much as we can for the future.  If we put the technology in place now across all countries to re-use water to its maximum, we can buy ourselves time while preserving what fresh water we have left.  This fresh water will not last forever at our current rate of consumption and also the current rate at which we are diminishing our water reserves.  But I fear that many people will simply write this off as irrelevant until everyone is suffering from water shortages.  Today, lets all try to use a little less water, whether it be in the shower, washing dishes, or simply watering our yards and gardens.  It can not just be a few people who make the effort, however, it must be our population as a whole.  We shall see how that goes. 

Lying Politicians

Does the title of this piece surprise anyone?  It shouldn't.  We have long dealt with politicians who say one thing to get elected and then do the complete opposite when they get into office.  This time though it seems to hit home a little harder as many of the politicians who are lying now were elected during an economic recession, many on pledges to be cost-cutters when they got to Washington.  Even more surprising, many of the politicians now going back on their pledges, at least when it comes to their home state, are freshman politicans who were thought to be the answer to the entrenched, long seated ones who had stayed past their prime.   Now that these freshman politicans are in office, they are pushing for money to be allocated to projects that will benefit only their home state.  Yet, by asking for money to be allocated to their state, they are usurping it from a general use that might benefit all of us.  I won't go into the list of politicians who are doing this, but you can see them for yourself by following this link and reading the article.   What is it about public office, deception, and lying?  It seems that most people can't get elected into office unless they learn how to lie through their teeth with a smile on their faces.  The most ironic part about it is that most of the politicians now lying were supported by the Tea Party and their cost cutting initiatives.  So how can these people justify their home state spending pushes during these tough economic times?  It seems that they are oblivious to the fact that our country is facing a default on its debt and that many Americans are still struggling to find jobs and make ends meet.  Well, hopefully they won't last too long in office to screw up our country more. 

Politicians have long been known to be a lying breed.  They may claim to have the best interest at hand when asking for money for their home state, yet they can't see the larger picture.  One politician in particular was going to get to Washington and push to stop earmarking, the process of penciling in funds after the budget has already been set to divert money back home, yet instead started pushing for a new bridge to be built.  When questioned about his back-peddling against his former statement, he said that it wasn't earmarking because he did not ask for a specific amount of money.  What a load of crap.  If I had to be anywhere near that guy, I would need hip waders to get through the sewage seeping from him.  He may not have asked for money yet, but that request is no doubt coming, he just had to frame it a particular way to get the ball rolling.  Maybe we should start treating these politicians like the little children they act like.  We, the people, should set up standards for punishing them for lying.  A few could probably use a good spanking (although we can't do that anymore because it is emotionally and physically damaging), and others could use a little walk to stand in a corner facing the wall for a few hours.  Perhaps the best would be to have them write over and over again "I will not lie, I will not lie, I will not lie" on a blackboard in front of their constituents.  None of this will happen obviously, but its nice to fantasize about politicians actually being held accountable for their pledges and promises during their campaigns. 

Maybe in the next week our politicians will grow up and rid themselves of their toddler and teenage attitudes and bickering and actually work together to solve some our problems, like agreeing on how to move our country forward instead of sinking it further into the muck and mire we seem to be stuck in.  Some have said that even if our country defaults on its debt, the sun will still rise the next day.  As true as this may be, the country the sun rises on will be far different than the one it sets on.  Many of the people saying a default will not be that bad have plenty of money to weather the bad times.  What about the rest of us.  Are they going to open up their personal coffers and help out the average American?  No, they will sit tight and spend even less.  The top 400 wealthiest individuals in this country have as much money as the poorest 150 million.  How sick is that.  They earned their money, yes, but how much of that is from bonuses and super high salaries and how much is from actual work?  I personally don't know, but I would have to say that most of them at this point probably don't put in an honest day's work.  A contractor friend of mine who works in Greenwich overheard the owner a brokerage firm complaining that he didn't want to go to work because he was only going to make 1.5 million that day.  Really?  Politicians are of the same breed; greedy, overzealous bigots who look out for their own interests and those of their state regardless of what the country as a whole is going through.  I really do hope that Americans get some sense before the next election and these freshman politicians don't make it past their first term in office.  But alas, enough complaining.  It is the eve of the almighty weekend and time to get a little R&R.  Turn off the TV, close the computer and forget about the world for a while.  Enjoy today for what it is because you never know what tomorrow may bring.

Disturbing Case of Casey Anthony

I will be perfectly honest with everyone reading this right now, I know very little about Casey Anthony or her trial.  That being said, what I do know is that she was suspected of murdering her 2 year old daughter, was tried for murder, and subsequently acquitted, able to walk away a free woman.   I do know a few other bits of information but I don't really feel like wasting my mental energy dredging those bits up to the fore front of my consciousness.  Here is what I do know, this whole Casey Anthony murder trial and ensuing public pursuit of her whereabouts is downright disturbing.  Have people nothing better to do with their lives than search for a woman who received a fair trial and was acquitted of charges?  Obviously not as nearly three weeks after the verdict was delivered, the search for her continues.  This does not just include the public, but the media as well as they flock to any reported sighting of her and attempt to verify if it actually is the elusive, Casey Anthony.  Personally, I hope she is enjoying herself on some tropical beach, sipping a cocktail and laughing at all the pathetic people who have made it their job to search her out and eek out their own form of justice.  Whether or not you agree with the verdict of the trial (I have no opinion because I don't care), she was acquitted by a jury of her peers and as such should be allowed to live her life as she deems fit.  By attempting to search her out and question her, we are in essence saying that the justice system in this country is broken and needs fixing, or rather, we viewed the trial with a pre-conceived notion of what should happen and regardless of the verdict, perpetuate that notion as if we are the ultimate judge and jury ourselves.  To me, its all a bunch of bull.  Entertain for a minute the notion that she is actually innocent and put yourselves in her shoes.  How would you feel being followed around day and night because people want to see justice meted out according to their own personal verdict?  If I was in her shoes, I would be pretty ticked off. 

Haven't we much more important things to be concerned about than the outcome of a trial that affects one family?  Its not like Casey Anthony is the mother of every child in the United States.  We have wars going on across the world, people dying every day from hunger, and an economic crisis that just won't go away.  You would think that with all the events in the world that have a much greater impact on our lives we would pay a little more attention to them, such as the laughable battle between Rep. and Dem., and perhaps try to make a difference elsewhere.  Don't get me wrong, the fact that a 2 year old died is horrible, but the fact of the matter is, her dying has little to no effect on anyone else outside her family.  For people across the country to get so incensed about this trial is insane.  It really bothers me that so many people have glued themselves to the TV and Internet following this trial and are pretty much wasting their lives and time on it.   I try to maintain the view that people have more potential within themselves than they are portraying right now with this trial, the media included.  That view is slowly deteriorating as weeks go on and talk about Casey Anthony won't go away.  If she was in fact guilty, she will be made to to pay at some point, but it shouldn't be at the hands of the public or the media.  Take a look at a few more famous incidents in the past.  O.J. Simpson was acquitted and where is he now, in jail for a very long time on charges totally unrelated to the original trial.  Al Capone, one of the most notorious mobsters of the early 20th century served no time for murder or any mob related activity, but rather for tax evasion.  Let history run its course and see where Casey Anthony ends up in 20 years.  

I for one think its time to put aside our petty fetish interest in the lives of others and concern ourselves with ourselves and the events that effect us directly.   This is slowly becoming the case of the missing Bigfoot; "where has Casey Anthony gone".  There is some humor in this as some people and states are messing with the public and media placing Casey Anthony look alikes at fairs and claiming she is somewhere when she really isn't.  They at least see the insidious idiocy that has abounded after her trial ended.   Its time to move on people and get back to living your own lives.  How much time has been dedicated to following this trial and pursuing Ms. Anthony by individuals that could have been dedicated instead to raising their own children or perhaps bettering themselves?  Too much is my answer.  It is wasteful and utterly disgraceful.  Maybe instead of pursuing her, these people should pursue the lying politicians that they elected into office and sent to Washington.  For all the claims that these politicians made about being against increased spending and earmarking, they are doing a hell of a lot of it.  But more on that tomorrow.  For today, turn off the TV that is glued to whatever station is searching for Anthony and close your computer with your programs to track supposed flights she might be on and live a little bit.  Involve yourself with others around you, those that can impact your life directly, and spend some time worrying about your own children, not the 2 year old who died a few years ago and hopefully is in heaven by now.

Playgrounds and Children

Who remembers playgrounds from our youth?  They were tall and frightening at times, but most of all, they were fun.   We used to be able to climb to the top, albeit with a little trepidation, and get a good view from ten feet off the ground.  I remember I used to walk across a wooden beam that held swings ten feet off the ground, obviously when adults weren't watching, and then climb down the other side onto a platform.  I never fell from that beam, I did break a wrist at one point, but that was due to a risky maneuver requiring swinging as high as I could, leaping off the swing at its highest point, and grabbing onto a slick metal bar.  Stupid?  Yes, but when my broken wrist healed from that incident, I did it again.  I learned from my mistakes and moved on.  These days, it is difficult to find a playground with ready access to anything over eight feet off the ground and every platform seems to be enclosed to provide safety for children.  This concern with the safety of children seems to have become a little excessive, mostly due to fear of lawsuits, and is now thought to reduce the emotional and physical development of children.  Why is this the case?  Mainly because it does not allow children the chance to push the envelope, face their fears, and ultimately overcome them.  It has been found that if a child under the age of nine experiences a fall with an injury, contrary to popular belief, it does not instill in that child a fear of heights, but rather works to eliminate that fear.  In terms of physical development, as playgrounds have become safer, it has kept older children away because they are not as "fun" as the older, riskier playgrounds used to be. 

Playgrounds are the place where children learn to conquer fears, explore a wide range of physical endeavors, and ultimately have fun and succeed at different tasks.  If we reduce the amount of risks that children are able to take, some psychologists have indicated that they think it will lead to an increase in psychopathology later in life and ultimately, more fearful adults.  The same methods that children use to conquer their fears of heights on the playground are the same methods that psychologists use to help adults conquer their fears; progressive pushing of the envelope.  What this ultimately means is that we need to let children be children.  Parents, however fearful they may be that their child will get injured, need to allow exploration and risk taking in order for their children to become well formed adults.   Part of the problem, as I mentioned earlier, is the fear of lawsuits.  Parents today feel that they need to make someone else pay if their child is injured.  Children get hurt, it is fact of life.  If they cause their own injury, and even if they don't, what are we teaching them by making someone else responsible for their injury?  We are inevitably creating an generation of future adults who will adopt the same attitude and perpetuate this attitude of passing along responsibility.  What happens when a child who learns to pass on responsibility for their actions as an adult gets into a car accident?  I guarantee that the first thought that crosses their mind is, "OK, who do I sue for damages even though it was my fault. Why not the automaker?"  (Maybe that thought is a little excessive, but you get my point.)

What we need to do is move past this era of fear for our children and re-invigorate the past mores of letting children be children.  We must re-learn the ability to let children get hurt and endure the resulting pain from their injury.  We must allow children to take risks and explore the world on their own terms, not on ours.  If we want to form them into balanced, educated, and well-rounded adults, we need to take a step back and let them learn things on their own at their own speed.  By being over protective of our children, we will inevitably do damage in the end.   What is needed is to bring back the playgrounds of our youth, maybe not with the asphalt for a landing, but we need to bring back the heights and the risky environments so children are able to learn for themselves how to engage in difficult tasks and take on fears they might have.  Any parent now is probably thinking that I am crazy, but think back to your youth.  What kind of playground did you enjoy your time on?  It was probably covered in asphalt and had huge metal bars extending ten feet or higher into the air for you to climb.  Where have all the jungle gyms gone?  Most have been scrapped in favor of shorter, plastic, padded playgrounds that cater to the very young and attempt to be as safe as possible to reduce the risk of injury.  I say let the children get hurt if they will.  It is a part of life and the sooner they learn it, the sooner they will be able to conquer their fears and build themselves into well-rounded adults.

Forgiveness after 9/11

I am sure that almost everyone reading this is familiar with the events of 9/11, the horrific day signifying the worst terrorist attacks on American soil.  I am also sure that almost everyone knows of the hatred that was spawned by 9/11 towards Muslims by Americans.  Most of the hatred was simply that, hatred accompanied by skepticism towards any Arab looking person who lived in the United States.  There were instances of violence and some of those resulted in the deaths of persons totally unrelated to 9/11 or anyone involved with it.  One story is coming out again now because it is associated with a remarkable tale of forgiveness, a type of forgiveness that I don't know if I could even embrace.  The original incident happened a few weeks after 9/11 on September 21 in Texas.  On that day, a man in Texas decided to take revenge into his own hands and start killing individuals he deemed were Arab Muslims.  He luckily only shot 3 people; 2 died and one managed to survive somehow after being shot in the face.  The shooter was arrested and is now only 25 days away from being put to death himself by the state of Texas.   If the survivor of the shootings has his way however, the man on death row will get a second chance at life.  The survivor is now doing everything he can to keep this man from being put to death;  all in the name of forgiveness.  He has moved past the incident, looked back at it for what it was; a shooting based in ignorance, and has completely forgiven the man who shot him.  (I implore everyone reading this to follow the link and read the article and interview.)

We currently live in a society mostly dictated by revenge and making people pay for their mistakes however minuscule or grave they may be.  Our society would have us believe that the only way we can live is to seek revenge against those who hurt us in any way, whether it be a slap in the face or a shotgun blast.  Most of our population seems to have forgotten what it means to forgive, to move past other's mistakes, and live a life in which we can see others for who they truly are.   Currently, if we are hurt by someone else in any way, all we see is either a dollar sign or a noose over their heads, we can't fathom that they could have made a mistake and we base their whole existence up to that point on the one mistake they made.  In essence, we seek to turn that person into their own mistake regardless of their past history or the hurt that they may be feeling.  After all, we live in the country that celebrated the killing of Osama Bin Laden, that hated terrorist whom everyone tried to portray as 9/11.  It came to the point where when anyone thought of 9/11, they thought of Osama Bin Laden.  I feel the same would hold true for most Americans if they went through what the survivor went through on September 21.  They would look at the shooter only as an instrument of death holding a gun and seeking to kill Arabs.  How far have we retreated in our social consciousness where we can hold this view as our own?   Anyone who portrays Islam as a religion of hate based solely on the incidents of 9/11 is ignorant and sophomoric.   We could all learn from this one man who survived said hate and moved past it to embrace forgiveness. 

Anyone who follows a religion, dwindling as those numbers may be, knows of forgiveness and has been taught to some extent about it.  Yet how many of us can actually embrace the idea of forgiveness and move past our hurt to a place where everyone is equal and mistakes mean nothing?  We are all human and we will undoubtedly all screw up at one point in our life.  Would we, when we screw up, hope that others would forgive our mistakes or would we hope that they sought revenge against us for whatever we did?  We must look at everything that happens from different points of view.  Our own point of view is not the final point of view as such.  Everything that occurs has multiple facets and different triggers that caused them.  To look at an incident from only one side is to walk with blinders on, as a horse pulling a carriage does.  It demeans both us and the perpetrator of an incident.  It says that we are incapable of growing up and viewing the world as an adult should.   We must look past our own needs and desires and consider those of others.  Once we do this, we can achieve a more dignified place in life.  Will others abuse you for embracing forgiveness and looking past the faults of others?  Most likely, because that is the human condition.  Yet for once, maybe we can learn something from this survivor who has taken on a cause that few could ever imagine doing; seeking to free a man who once sought to kill him.  Today, let us look at others not with an air of disdain and condemnation, but with an air of acceptance and forgiveness.  If someone today causes you harm, move past it to the higher ground.  If we can all take one step forward today towards embracing forgiveness, perhaps we can inspire others around us to do the same. 

Will the U.S. Default?

Over the past year we have watched economic woes incite protests across Europe, testing the European Union and the countries belonging to it.  For those living in the United States hearing of countries defaulting or potentially defaulting on their debt, we have said, "The United States will never default on its own debt."  Well, in a few weeks, if our boneheaded politicians in Washington can't figure out how to work together to come up with a solution to raising the debt ceiling with a balanced budget package, then it looks like we will default on our debt.  So what would it mean if the United States defaulted on its debt?  I don't even know the full ramifications of a default, but from what I can garner from the news, our economy would be even more screwed that it already is.  It would mean that the United States, which loves to borrow money to pay for all its programs, wouldn't be able to borrow anything, and all the countries that support our $14 trillion dollar debt would come knocking asking for their money.  Essentially, it is mind boggling as the United States currently has the world's largest economy.  Every American would be effected in some way and it would send shock waves across all economies.  So why can't our thick headed politicians move past their own party's views to work together in concert?  Why can't they look at the big picture and take into consideration the lives of Americans who will be impacted by any decision or indecision emanating from their chambers?  It seems that one side wants more spending cuts, the other wants more taxation.  I have news for them, it can't simply be one way, it needs to be a combination of the two to effectively move our country forward.  Or better yet, how about a new system to raise money.

It has been proposed before and I am in full support of this new system (even though it is highly unlikely ever to become a reality).  It is a flat tax across the board with no loopholes or deductions.  If the government taxed everyone, corporations and individuals at the same rate, lets say 10% with no deductions, it would make the whole tax system easier to understand and able to generate more revenue to pay for our enormous debt.  Currently, we have large corporations with revenue in the hundreds of millions that essentially pay no taxes, GE for one, Boeing is up there, and how about the oil giants that pay little to no taxes.  How is that fair to the average American who has to pay taxes?  Its not.  If we had a flat tax across the board with no loopholes, money would flow right into the government's coffers.  Whether a person made a 100 dollars a day or 1 million a day, both would pay 10%, no ifs, ands, or buts.  If a corporation had 500K in revenue or 500 million in revenue, both would pay 10%, no ifs, ands or buts.  It is a much simpler system that everyone can understand and the government could actually make money on.  I don't know if 10% would be the right number, but it would definitely be a good starting point.  Yet the bickering in Washington goes on, "I want it my way, not yours."  Screw them all.  I say that if they can't reach a compromise and we do end up defaulting, that we get rid of every single politician and start from scratch with a new election.  Its time to put our foot down and demand that they actually do some work down in Washington to keep our country running. 

This problem should have been figured out months ago, yet with two weeks to go, there is still no solution.  Part of the problem is that most of the American public doesn't even care about what is going on in Washington and simply wishes for things to be resolved.  If we maintain that attitude without demanding that our elected officials actually accomplish something, then they will continue to bicker in their nice little rooms down in Washington.  It seems that people are more interested in the Casey Anthony trial than what could potentially drain their pockets.  People are concerned with finding jobs.  If our country defaults on its debt, do they think that finding a job will be easier?  It is time for people to look past the petty shit that is going on in their lives and in the life of Casey Anthony and take a serious look at the issue that could screw this whole country.  But alas, I feel like a speak to a wall.  No matter how much I say things or how much others plead for the American public to take some interest in their government, people will just go along watching their reality TV and hope for the best.  The only time they will take a vested interest is if our country does actually default.  At that point, people will come knocking saying, "How did this happen?"  By that point it will be too late.   Let us today and over the next two weeks, hope that our elected officials put aside their party interests and work together to solve this problem.  If they don't, I am moving to Antarctica and building myself a little igloo.

Sister Wives and the Law

This topic hasn't exactly made front page news in any major newspaper that I know of probably due to the fact that the United States is closer to defaulting on its debt than it ever has been before.   But personally, I am sick of politicians bickering and finger pointing and at this point I would much rather talk about polygamy.  Polygamy, a legal issue in the U.S. dating back to the 1800's, is now going to be re-entering the courts with a new challenge.  The lawsuit, being filed by Kody Brown of the show "Sister Wives" seeks not to have states recognize polygamous marriages, but rather to keep states from punishing polygamists for their own "intimate conduct" as long as they are living within the confines of the larger law, i.e. no incest, no child abuse, etc.  The current lawsuit being filed in Utah builds off of another lawsuit from 2003 that struck down sodomy laws in Texas as unconstitutional.  (For the full relationship between the lawsuits follow this link.)  Polygamy, for those who don't know what it is, is a relationship in which a man has more than one wife.  Currently, polygamy is illegal and as such most admitted polygamists only have one actual wife with other wives being called "sister wives" with no actual legal bond.  Polygamy for some, especially prevalent in Utah, is a way of life that they have been living for generations.  Many of the current polygamists grew up in polygamist families and as such sought out polygamist relationships when they grew older.  I myself, having not grown up in a polygamist family could never see myself in that type of relationship, but that doesn't mean that I look down on polygamists as evil or as breaking the law.  They are simply living a different type of lifestyle that I am mostly unfamiliar with.  That is, until I watched some of the "Sister Wives" shows.  Normally, I want nothing to do with "reality TV" especially as portrayed on TLC, but this show caught my eye because it presented to me a different lifestyle that I was unfamiliar with. 

After watching a number of the shows, I have learned a lot and come away with a different view of polygamy than I had before.  Not that I had a clear idea of what a polygamist relationship was like, but after watching the show, I can see the benefits and the challenges present in that type of relationship.  Personally, I find nothing wrong with what they do or the way they lead their life.  Is it a life that I would choose?  No, but I would never speak out against it or denegrate it any way.  Just because polygamy is not recognized by most mainstream religions or the law does not make it wrong.  What does make it wrong?  Is it the fact that it flies in the face of conventional relationships?  Is it because it is so vastly different than the relationships most of us are involved in?  One might argue that polygamy is about male domination and keeping the women in line and that because of it, it should be illegal.  Well, does that not happen in normal relationships as well?  I have seen many instances where a monogamous relationship was incredibly worse off than the polygamist one portrayed on "Sister Wives".  I have heard men totally berate and belittle their wives for even talking out of place.  So what does that say about monogamy?  Does that cast a shadow over monogamous relationships that we now must all deal with?  No, it happens in certain instances, but it is not universal.  The same goes for polygamy.  While there may be some polygamous relationships out their in which the male is overly dominant and controlling almost to the point of abuse, it does not make it a universal norm to be applied to all polygamist relationships.  One man's beliefs are another man's taboo. 

At this point, I think that this whole argument boils down to people being able to accept a different way of life.  Although polygamy has been around for centuries, it has not been at the forefront of any news or for that matter any major discussion.  Now that it is in front of us, we must look at it for what it is; a relationship in which a man shares his love with more than one woman.  I know that I would not be able to do this, but that is me, and I personally applaud the Brown's for their ability to make their relationship work and their steadfastness in sticking to their guns and fighting for what they believe in.  Just as the influx of gay marriages has forced many people to re-align their views, so to does this case now force people to look at the facts, realize that their way is not the only way, and open their minds to accepting a different way of life.  I personally find fault in the government of Utah for opening their investigation into the Brown's polygamous relationship in the first place.  They used a TV show as the main source of information about the Brown's lives and are seeking to essentially destroy that family.  In a polygamous case that is brought to the courts, what normally happens is the family is split up, the father goes to jail, and the children who grew up together usually never see each other again.  What kind of life is that?  While I am not advocating that everyone must accept polygamy or for that matter view it as favorable, I am imploring people to look at it with an open mind and not build off of society's prejudices to formulate their own opinion.  Too often we accept what is handed to us by society as good, just, and lawful; however as humans evolve and generations pass, we must constantly seek to tweek our views of almost everything.  We can not just accept whatever society hands us, but must seek our own answers based upon our own views and opinions.  Simply living our lives based upon what society deems as good is not really living at all.  Today, examine your own views.   Do you accept what society hands you as sacrosanct or do you question everything and formulate your own views and opinions?

Robots Aren't Human, Yet

Robots and the technology behind their functionality is perhaps one of the most fascinating fields of study and development today.   Since the 1960's when we first began investing in artificial intelligence and began creating the first robots, there have been leaps and bounds in what robots can actually do.  Today, robots are found in many manufacturing plants taking the place of humans to assemble and build a number of different items.  Robots can even walk now, mimicking a walking person and the pace at which that person is walking.  However, since the early days when robots were seen as eventually becoming part of every household, we have yet to create a robot that can undertake every day tasks that we humans carry out so easily.  Some of these tasks range from finding a quarter in your pants pocket, to folding laundry, to simply getting a beer out of the fridge.  While most of the technology is there in terms of the physical robot, the arms, fingers, torso, etc.; the biggest obstacle that remains is the perception of a robot.  To date, robots have an incredibly hard time perceiving the world around them and based upon those perceptions, acting according.  The software has yet to develop significantly enough to enable robots to carry out functions where their perception is needed to perform.  There has been a robot created that can fold laundry, but it takes prohibitively long and that is the only main task that it can perform at this point.  Even in recognition, robots are leap years away from humans.  In a competition to see who could design a robot that could recognize 100 items in a supermarket, the most that a robot could recognize fell far short at 68% of 50 items or only 34 items.  With the amount of items in a supermarket, we sure won't be sending the local robot to do our shopping any time soon.  While improvements are being made in the software technology, it will still be many years before we have robots roaming the streets or acting as our butlers and maids.

As fascinating as the robotic field is, I am divided in my excitement.  While I think it is amazing that we have robots even currently that can perform a wide variety of tasks, I question the desire to create a robot that can mimic humans.  In the article linked above, it was mentioned that if we can get robots to perform more efficiently and with a greater ability to perceive their surroundings, that we could bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.  My biggest question is, if we are concerned with jobs being sent over seas and bring them back home only to give them to robots, how will that effectively help our current job situation if none of the humans once employed in manufacturing jobs are re-hired when the jobs return?  In part, robotic technology has a lot to do with what some would call a "God complex", or the need to create something that is on par with humans, one of the most amazing systems ever created (whether or not you believe that God created humans).   If we are eventually able to create a robot that mimics humans functionality, perception, and the ability to interact seamlessly with others, what then?  Why is there such a need to create a human-like entity?  I would argue that we have big enough issues today dealing with individual's differences and completely understanding the human body and mind.  With all the research done into unlocking the secrets of the human mind, we still do not completely understand it and often times miss the mark.  

Now, I do think that if we can make a robot that can function like a basic human, i.e. do basic household chores, respond to requests; then there would be good use for them.  One of the biggest areas that robots would be helpful is in the care of the elderly.  It seems that even now, with everyone working more and more to keep up with bills and daily life, the care of the elderly who are not in an assisted living facility or a nursing home has been lacking.  With a robot to pick up the slack around the house, it would be a great assistance to those who both have to work and have to care for an elderly individual.  Yet again, this raises another question.  If we have robots to do all of our household chores, how many of us would really take the extra time to spend with family and friends versus working more?  In part, I would argue that it would afford us the time to work more in order to make more money.  Obviously this depends in large part on a person's work ethic and attitude towards his/her family and friends.  There would doubtless be some who would take the extra time not devoted to household chores and dedicate it towards family and friends, but I think that overall, the number of individuals who actually did this would be in the minority.  While robots would be helpful, I personally do not think that as a whole, humans are ready for robots to be introduced en mass into the household.  Yet, thinking about this last statement, technology has a way of creeping into our every day lives and while at first there may be skepticism and apprehension about affording robots somewhat equal status to humans, eventually we will come around and embrace them (as long as they don't fully replace humans).   The technology itself is exciting and it is amazing to see the strides that are being made in the field of robotics.  I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens next.  Will we have robots performing household cleaning duties?  I personally hope so because I will be one the few who take that extra time to relax and watch the robot do the work. 

The Drought Won't End

The United States is currently suffering through one of the worst droughts in history.  Affecting 14 states across the south from Arizona to Florida, the lack of rain after epic spring flooding is taking its toll.   Water levels are at all time lows across much of the affected region, crops are struggling just to break through the dried out soil, and wildfires are churning away in the southwest.  With the low water levels, farmers are having a hard time just watering the crops they get to grow.  One farmer who runs his pump off of diesel paid over $88K dollars for two months alone.  With crops not surviving, ranchers in Texas and surrounding states might be moved to sell off their cattle early due to lack of food for them.  With both cattle and crops suffering, the inevitable will happen, our pockets will suffer come fall time.  The drought this year especially for Texas has been record breaking.   From February till June, Texas saw so little rainfall that it shattered a record set back in 1917, almost a hundred years ago.  In general for the affected region, a drought like this hasn't occurred since the 1950's.  While not as bad as the combination of natural and economic circumstances that coincided during the Great Depression, we are coming pretty damn close.  Unfortunately, there is not much we can do about the drought.  As many a sign in the south now reads, "Pray for Rain". 

So in this time of record breaking droughts, political instability, and economic woes, what can we do to survive and make it through.  Granted, most of us will be just fine, but still, there are many out there who will struggle even more to put food on the table with higher prices and thus have a harder time providing for their families.  The way I see it, there are two options.  The first is start your own garden.  Even if it is a small, corner garden or just a few vegetable plants in a window in your house, it is the easiest way to provide a little extra food at a very low cost.  Vegetables alone are pricey at the supermarket and if you can grow your own for a minimal cost, then it will shave off a few dollars every week that you can put towards something else.  Most of us will be unable to grow everything we need to survive in our back yards, but every little bit helps.  By providing a little for ourselves, we allow extra to be had for those who are unable to grow their own food.  People might complain that its too much work to have a garden.  Not really, unless you consider watering your garden daily too much work.  For the most part, (unless you get crazy with fertilizers and other gardening methods) having a garden is pretty simple. 

The second option as I see it is to help those who are in need.  There are many ways that we could help.  Personally, if you have been reading this blog for a while you would know that I volunteer at a soup kitchen to help feed the homeless and hungry every week.  Not everyone wants to volunteer their time or effort to an activity such as a soup kitchen, but what about buying some extra canned goods at the store and bringing them to your local food bank.  This act alone can help to feed extra people.  And if that is not your style either, what about donating a little money to a charity that works with the homeless and hungry.  There are many ways to make a difference in people's lives and there is an option that can suit everyone.   If everyone pitched in just a little bit and gave something either of themselves or their resources, we could have a huge impact and help out hundreds if not thousands of people.  In this time of economic stress that is still affecting many countries throughout the world, we would all do well to help out those in need.  Now is the time when we need to step out of our comfort zones and become concerned with more than just ourselves.  The world and everyone in it is interconnected whether or not we want to believe it.  If enough people go homeless and hungry, everyone is affected.  We can only stay detached from the world so long before it consumes us.  So today, consider the options to help, either start a garden or donate some time a service, or if your really ambitious, a little bit a both.  The world isn't going to end tomorrow and if we want to see prosperity return, we all need to chip in and help each other through. 

Oil Spill In Montana

In the United States, we are well acquainted by this point with oil spills.  After all, it was just a little over a year ago that the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and spewed oil into the sea for months.  This latest spill, comparatively, is minor and instead of spewing oil for over a month, spewed oil for only about an hour.  Despite the small size of the spill, the damage to wildlife still remains a concern and perhaps even more puzzling is the industry's reaction.  The cause of the spill was a ruptured pipeline carrying crude that according residents in the area, had been slowly exposed by erosion from the Yellowstone River.  Despite repeated pleas to fix the situation with the pipeline so that it wouldn't rupture, Exxon Mobil did nothing.  They said there was nothing wrong with the pipeline, yet the pipeline ruptured.  After the spill occurred, dealings with the company did not get better.  They claimed that the pipeline only spewed oil for six minutes when in reality, it spewed oil for the better part of an hour.  In addition, after claiming the oil only affected 10 miles of the river, oil was found seeping into low lying areas of the river 40 miles downstream.  There are excuses for everything from Exxon Mobil, some of them I am sure are legitimate, yet what ever happened to being honest, especially with people living in the vicinity of the ruptured pipe line.   In addition to not being totally forthcoming with information, security officials for Exxon Mobil attempted to keep people away from affected areas even though many of the areas affected were public land and not subject to their authority. 

To me, it seems as if Exxon Mobil and any other oil company for that matter can do as they wish, figuring that since they have such powerful friends in the government they can get away with anything.  After all the tax breaks they receive from the government, you would think that they would be a little more grateful to the American public for pumping their coffers full of our money, yet you would be wrong again.  Conversely, it seems that in order to make it in the oil industry, one must learn the arts of deception and deceipt in order succeed.  It should come as no surprise then to hear lie after lie coming from the mouths of company employees.  As if that weren't enough, seeing as they are in charge of cleaning up the spill, you might think that they would get right out there to fix the damage and preserve as much wildlife as possible, but then again, you would be wrong.  They take their time cleaning up spills, this case being no different, probably in an effort to keep the clean up process going for as long as possible.  However we proceed from here, the oil company's need a wake up call.  They need to realize that they can not just do as they wish and get away with it time after time.  There will come a point, hopefully soon, where the public will get too fed up with the companies and start asking for payback for all the damages.  Unfortunately, there is one minor problem; the American public relies heavily on these companies for the gas we use to drive around every day.  Until we can find a suitable alternative to gasoline, demanding retribution will be difficult.

As with many aspects of our infrastructure in this country, pipeline's are deteriorating as well; either through exposure as a result from erosion or other natural effect, or just due to the passing of time.  Regardless of the cause of deterioration, we need to take more seriously the pipelines running through out this country and ensure that they are fit to keep pumping whatever fluid they have in them.  We can not keep going through this scenario year after year.   If we keep on having an oil spill yearly, we will eventually destroy much of our environment and have nothing left.  Ok, maybe that view is a little grim and pessimistic, but it is getting to the point where we need to force these companies to look more closely at conservation, preservation, and prevention instead of emergency clean ups and the consequences dealt with in the aftermath of a leak or spill.  But for now, we can all talk to we are blue in the faces with no effect.  If the oil company's keep on getting their kickbacks and tax breaks from our government and we keep on buying their product, they will continue to do as they want with no fear of reprisal.  With as much money as they have, even if a lawsuit were to be waged against them, they wouldn't really be that concerned as they could hire the best law firm in the country to represent their interests.  They only place we can start is with our elected government officials.  We need to pressure them to pressure the oil companies for more transparency and due diligence when it comes to dealing with their own product.  Today, try to drive a little less and save some of the black gold from being burnt. 

Freak Sand Storm

Earlier this week a sand storm the size of which you would imagine only seeing in the movies rolled through Phoenix, Arizona.  The storm, estimated at its largest, was about 1 mile high and approximately 100 miles wide.  Driven by 60 mile per hour winds, the storm swept up dust and sand and traveled for about 150 miles before finally ending.  If you usually don't click on the links here to check out the story I am referring to, I would highly recommend doing so today.  The pictures and associated video clips are amazing.  According to many people, this was one of the largest sand storms that anyone can remember.  After four months of nearly no rain for the area, it should be no surprise that a storm this large was whipped up.  It seems that more and more freakish weather events are occurring around the nation and for that matter around the globe.  After record snows this past winter to record flooding this spring and early summer, we now have record tornadoes and the latest, sand storms.  While sand storms may be fairly normal for desert regions such as Arizona, this latest one was epic. 

All these weather events seem to beg the question, why is all this happening.  Well, we all by now know that the earth is a little warmer than it used to be and with the increase in temperature, many variables change and contribute to the changing weather patterns.   As the average temperature rises, more water evaporates from the surface of the earth.  This can increase the frequency of droughts in some regions, such as Arizona, and in others, it can lead to increase rain and flooding.  As more moisture makes it into the atmosphere, it adds to the frequency of storms in some regions and overall, makes tracking weather events more difficult and unpredictable.  As the earth continues to slowly warm, it seems like more of these freakish weather events will become more common.  Unfortunately, as it stands right now, it will take the efforts the world over to try and bring the average global temperature down if we even can.  So for now, I guess we will have to get used to massive storms, unpredictable rain and droughts, and more uncertainty overall.  I will keep it short today because it is Friday, but enjoy the pictures of the sandstorm (luckily no one was injured or killed as a result) and lets hope that any more of these storms don't wreak havoc and destruction. 

Ethanol From Waste

By this point I am sure that almost everyone reading this has heard about ethanol fuel and how it is supposed to help replace fossil fuels along with a slew of other products.  Currently, however, most ethanol that is produced uses corn or some other food source as its main ingredient.  The use of a food source to create a fuel has many critics complaining that it is taking away vital food from people and animals in a time when food prices are rising and the world's population is growing.  So what to do about ethanol production?  Well, there are a number of enterprising companies out there, one of which has been producing small amounts of ethanol daily from corn waste, otherwise known as stover.  The waste that is used is all the stalks, husks, and cobs that are left over from the harvesting of the corn.  By using the waste to create ethanol, food sources are saved for consumption by people and animals, and fuel is still produced for use in either cars, trucks, or farm equipment.  The best news about this new technology is that the U.S. government is investing in it, providing loans to bring smaller plants up to speed by building commercially viable production plants that can produce up to 700 gallons of ethanol daily.  If these companies are capable of producing large amounts of ethanol using waste and ensuring that the energy consumption required to make the ethanol does not exceed the energy that the ethanol can itself produce, then we will be taking a giant step away from our dependence on fossil fuels.  Companies are planning to use more than just the waste from corn to produce ethanol, however, which in itself shows how far technology has come in the area of producing fuel from waste. 

While not as mature as say the solar or wind power industry, these companies are quickly making improvements to their production techniques and ensuring that everything runs efficiently.  Some of the other plans in place, are in my mind, more exciting than using corn waste to produce fuel.  Two of the most innovative plans are in Alabama and Nevada.  In Alabama, a company has plans to build a plant that will process household waste and other items to produce ethanol and in Nevada, a California company has plans to build a plant that will process municipal waste and convert it into ethanol.  The process to me is complicated so I will not delve into the specifics of it, but just to see that we are finally finding a use for all the trash that we produce is incredible.  For decades, all the waste that we produce has either ended up in landfills or being selectively burned to eliminate it.  Both options are not necessarily environmentally friendly and to finally have a use for our trash is a huge step forward.  Landfills, for the most part, simply hide the trash instead of putting it to good use, although there is a method for harnessing the methane produced from massive landfills and their decomposing trash heap.  If these plants that are being planned to convert waste into fuel actually function up to speed and produce large amounts of fuel, we will finally take a leap ahead in terms of being the green leader.  However, more than just a few plants will be needed to provide enough fuel for our voracious appetite. 

It is good to see that our government is not just wasting money on foreign wars, but is also looking to the future and investing in technology that will help out our children and our children's children.  If the U.S. government can find it within itself to focus even more of its resources on green technology, then maybe we can find our way out of this recession by creating more sustainable, long-lasting jobs.  If we want energy independence, investment now is what is needed.  If we don't dedicate more of our resources now to new technology and job creation, then we will be a step behind.  For all the garbage news that is circulated daily throughout the world about political scandals, long lasting foreign wars, and wasted money, there is some good news to be found.   If only we could find a way to recycle all of our garbage politicians, maybe the world would indeed be a better place.  But for now, corn waste will do along with other forms being converted to fuel.  All that is needed is to speed along the process of production and share that technology with the developing world so that it is not just the developed countries that are reducing their carbon footprint, but also the developing nations whose appetite for fossil fuels is coming close to exceeding the United States' own appetite.  Maybe one day we will finally solve our pollution problem.  It will be a slow process, but I am confident that given enough time, investment, and human ingenuity, we can get there and create a cleaner environment for everyone.

Disappearing Keys

It seems we are quickly progressing towards a world in which a key chain will become a relic, an artifact relegated to the annals of history.  With phone's now capable of doing pretty much anything from playing games to checking and sending email to actually making phone calls, one more task is being added to their every expanding list of capabilities.   The latest task is unlocking doors, from your car door (in addition to starting the engine) to hotel room doors to house and apartment doors.   While improvements are still being made, the technology is already out there and ready for the consumer.  No longer will you have to search for the keys in your pocket to gain entry into your house, all you have to do is pull out your cell phone and hit a few buttons.  Perhaps the coolest and most streamlining effect this technology will have is in hotels.  The service was tested out recently in a hotel where individuals were asked to check in electronically after which they were emailed a "key" on their phone which corresponded to their room that they just checked in to.  The keys to hotel rooms are temporary ones either requiring a password or timed to expire after a given amount of time.  Regardless, the days of human interaction at the front desk of a hotel are fast diminishing.   Individuals can also purchase a similar system for their apartments or houses, especially if they rent them out when they are not around, which can eliminate making duplicate copies of keys, arranging times to meet tenants or guests to drop off keys, and making remote access much easier.  If a guest or tenant gets locked out, the homeowner, regardless of where he/she is, can open the door from their own phone.  One would think that this technology is prohibitively expensive, but a system can be purchased for $300 plus about $40 to change the locks over to electronic ones. 

As cool as this technology is, I will personally keep my keys for now.  My biggest question is, how does one prevent the virtual keys from being borrowed by a thief with hacker abilities?  It seems that all it would really take is for one slip up in Internet security and a hacker could get in, get your "key" info and wait until you are not around to let themselves into your house.  I am sure that most systems are indeed secure and guaranteed, but the skeptic in me is still vibrant.  Also, what is to keep some frustrated employee at one of these companies to steal "key" information and sell it to the highest bidder consequently compromising the safety and security of car and homeowners?  As exciting as this is, I will wait a few years to see what happens before buying a system for myself.   There are great benefits to these virtual keys, but actual keys will still have to be around for some time though.  While those of us who have a smart phone think that everyone and their mother now has a smart phone, I personally know plenty of people who still rely on an older, simpler phone; one that is only capable of calling people and possibly texting.   Especially when it comes to hotel rooms, human interaction will be inevitable for some time as the older generation slowly integrates themselves into the new digital world.  But I guess in the end we will have to wait and see where this technology brings us. 

Now if only we could invent a smart phone that grew food or fed the homeless, we would be all set and could solve the world's problems.  While technology may make life easier for us, it still takes human ingenuity to invent the newest apps and programs.  Let us not forget that we still need our brains to function and can not rely solely on smart phones and their latest gadgets to get us through the day.  It seems however, that with every new app that comes out, the brain power required to make it through a day is reduced.  We no longer have to remember where our car is or how to get to a friends house or for that matter a shopping list and we definitely no longer have to look for a parking spot.  I for one, while utilizing the general maps on my iPhone, will not activate the GPS, I will only look up where I am going and then using my own brain to find my way there.  But, that is me, and personally, I am probably a little archaic when it comes to embracing new technology and allowing it to do my thinking for me.  I value my intuition, my ability to navigate without someone telling me where to turn, and my ability to remember where my car is.  Although, this whole key thing could work out quite well as it would eliminate some extra weight from my pockets on a daily basis and wouldn't be stripping me of valuable brain engaging activity.  Lets be honest, how much brain power does it really take to open a door with a key.  Once the bugs are worked out, I may actually embrace this latest technology.