Uh Do What?

Its been a while since I've been here polluting the internet with my opinions. Today I read an article that put me into a quandary. It was regarding asking women of the Millennial Generation 'What is modern Feminism?'. There doesn't seem to be a clear definition in terms of what this generation understands. Most don't know how to even answer the question; I certainly don't. Then asked if they were feminist; some yes, some no's, but mostly 'I don't know'. I'd like to start a thread for this week titled "What Is Modern Feminism?". I'm going to pseudo interview both men and women of our generation and get their perspective on the subject. Then if there is anyone out there that would like to post an article that exemplifies their definition please do so. To be clear I'm not push any sort of platform or agenda. I'd really like to see what people want for the female gender and what you'd like for your own daughters in their future. Thank you in advance for your participation!

Holiday Hell

Its almost that time of year again. Holiday Hell. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a holiday scrooge. There is nothing magical, holy or amazing about any holiday. Although I do cherish those times I can be with my family(meaning my husband and children only). For the most part I will intensely hate the next 3 months. Why? Why!?

Traffic-we already live in San Angelo with some of the worst drivers imaginable then you add the holiday into the mix and you have some toxic situations. People practically running each other off the road just to get their idiotic material items they think they have to have.

Shopping for everyday stuffs-Trying to shop for your everyday items and groceries becomes the worst torture ever. I don't really need to elaborate on this one as we all have experienced it. People hang out in the aisles of HEB to socialize while their brood of 5 run around unchecked. I swear sometimes I want to clothes line these kids as they pass by or throw out my foot for the trip.

Holiday Music-It'll begin mid-October and most definitely in November. I hate loves songs therefore I hate holiday songs. They're just so depressing. I mean if you're single or have any deceased family members the songs are only a constant reminder of that. Also White Christmas is not a nostalgic song when you live in West Texas. Plus who wants to listen to songs that command you to be jolly?

Spending Time with the In-laws-Do I need to say much about this one? Spending 12 hours of the day in a very uncomfortable place with people you'd care not to see. You spend the entire 12 hours thinking of all the things that you'd rather be doing...root canal, leg waxing, going to work, jogging, banging your head against a wall etc.

This year should make for a very interesting Christmas as one of my brother-in-laws is getting out of the pen. I'm terribly curious to see what happens. As we have never done anything to piss this guy off, we're good, I don't know about everyone else though. Thanksgiving will be the same.

I guess Holidays wouldn't be so bad if you got to spend them with people you actually like and you got to do things you actually want to do. Gracing peoples with my presence on holidays is my form of altruism. You should be thankful I even showed up.

Anyone got some relatable Holiday stories? Anything funny?


PS The only thing I really get nostalgic about during the holidays is the ritual of watching of A Christmas Story and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. Best part of Christmas!

People I Want To Punch In The Face

I've decided to start a new segment based on a neat journal I saw called 'People I want to punch in the face'. I had one of these moments Sunday morning while waiting in line at the grocery store. It never fails that I get behind some idiot asshole who is going to have a problem or be difficult. I'm not that impatient, but there is a threshold.

This lady was obviously a rich bitch. Frosted hair, ridiculous nails, drag queen makeup, expensive jeans complete with rhinestone crosses on her ass. Guess if she dies in a car accident, you at least know that her ass was saved and ascended to heaven. First of all, she wasn't done getting her items. She kept running back and forth from the register to aisles to get last minutes items. Then she pulls out her CHECK BOOK...FUCK. And she forgot an item so she ordered the clerk to go get it. The clerk gets it, but low and behold it wasn't the item she wanted. So the clerk goes back to get the item. Finally the total comes up and the cashier and her had to bs together. OMG I'll kill both of you. She proceeds to write a check....a check which should no longer be accepted ANYWHERE. Don't get me started on how fucking stupid it is to use a check. Its finally my turn. And the clerk knows I'm pissed. She tries to make small talk with me, but I just burn holes through her head. At the end she had the audacity to tell me to have a 'Blessed Day'.

Long story short, Two people I want to punch in the face.

Additional Visual Aid

i know that i'm pretty much the only one out of our circle of friends who hates vaccines (for the most part). im not usually very vocal on issues like this because i dont like to stir the pot or get into a dumb argument but this is an example of why i hate vaccines. no one wants to actually help anyone else with vaccines, like everything else it comes down to money and politics. can i please go live on a commune now?? ;) Facts you probably don't know about HPV and Gardasil In August, the Health Ranger interviewed neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock, M.D. on tv.naturalnews.com. Dr. Blaylock shared some little known facts about the human papillomavirus (HPV) and the quick development of a vaccine to address it. Dr. Blaylock says the vaccine is "predicated on an absolute lie." Some empowering facts you may not know about the human papillomavirus and Gardasil: 1. First, the basis is wrong. HPV by itself does not cause cervical cancer. Evidence shows it takes a combination, or co-infections - multiple viruses or virus/bacteria combinations to cause cervical cancer. Examples include Epstein Bar virus, HIV, and Chlamydia, along with HPV. 2. Birth control pills and other hormonal drugs also increase the risk of HPV. 3. It has never been proven that the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer. There is no scientific evidence of any kind. 4. There are over 100 strains of HPV, only about 15 of which can contribute to cervical cancer. 5. HPV vaccines only include two to four strains, leaving you open to more than two-thirds of the dangerous strains. You will still need to get routine screenings for cervical cancer. 6. You don't change or reduce the incidence of cancer by receiving the vaccine. Studies show that the human immune system develops resistance to the strains given in the vaccine, allowing others to become predominant. 7. The CDC website states that the human body's immune system clears HPV within two years, 90 percent of the time (70 percent in one year). Without the vaccine. 8. One of the most powerful connections proven to increase the risk of cervical cancer is smoking. Women who smoke have 2.3 times higher incidence of the precancerous lesions that lead to cervical cancer. 9. Diet is key. A poor diet increases risk while a diet that includes high amounts of vitamin B12 and folic acid have a 79 percent reduction in HPV infections and cervical cancer. Vitamin C, curcumin, quercetin, and other flavonoids are powerful inhibitors against cervical cancer. 10. Dietary combinations have been proven to have far greater effect against HPV than any vaccine. 11. All the marketing assertions are false. It is one of the largest, most harmful medical hoaxes of our time. 12. Officially, the vaccine has been associated with approximately 100 deaths, and 500 have been left permanently disabled. 13. Those numbers are based on voluntary reporting, which historically means only two to ten percent of cases are represented. The vast majority of cases are never reported. So, conservatively, 5,000 young girls and women have been harmed by the vaccine. 14. Cervical cancer is one of the rarest cancers in the U. S., with 12,000 cases reported per year and 4,000 deaths. 15. The number of girls and women that experience serious complications from the vaccine meets or exceeds the number of deaths. 16. Side-effects include: Multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, blindness, pericarditis, coma, and death among many others. 17. The vaccine Gardasil was "fast tracked." This was illegal. The FDA requires new vaccines to undergo testing and a waiting period of 4 years. Gardasil was developed and on the market in 6 months, with FDA approval. 18. Texas governor Rick Perry tried to force all girls in Texas entering the sixth grade to receive the vaccine in 2007, despite the fact that the incubation period for HPV averages 20 years with the median age of sufferers being 48. He mandated it over the legislature's objections. 19. People thought they were required to receive the vaccine, but that too was untrue as it wasn't an actual law. 20. Perry received huge amounts of money from the manufacturer. 21. Perry's former chief of staff became a hired lobbyist for Merck, the maker of Gardasil in 2009, exposing the connection to the pharmaceutical giant, and the motivation for pushing the vaccine. 22. The Texas Legislature overturned Perry's executive order requiring girls to get the vaccine due to the huge backlash from the public. However, the precedent had been set, and other states and countries began to follow suit. 23. Pap smears alone prevent over 80 percent of cervical cancer. A yearly pap smear reduces your chance of getting cervical cancer to .002 percent. 24. HPV vaccines have been illegally administered to millions without informed consent as the risks are rarely disclosed. 25. What people don't know is that there are Informed Consent laws that are there to protect patients. They provide a legal strategy for people who have experienced vaccine damage. 26. Vaccine manufacturers do not want doctors to discuss and disclose the risks associated with vaccines because they don't want people to realize they can opt out. This has been documented in multiple medical journals. Yet it is illegal for doctors NOT to disclose the risks. 27. The vaccine was only tested on 21,000 girls and women before being pushed on millions of children, teens, and adults worldwide, according to the FDA website. 28. The FDA website has no mention that the vaccine was ever tested on males, yet the CDC says the vaccine is "recommended for all teen boys and men through age 21." 29. The Informed Consent laws also address questions about the efficacy of vaccines. Meaning you have a right to ask questions and receive answers about how well it works, why you should allow it to be administered, as well as the risks. 30. Vaccine manufacturers have gone to the legislature(s) to get a law passed that you cannot sue over vaccine complications. But, you can sue. (http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=4D703FEAA094BED0DB02BEDC4507765C) Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037154_Gardasil_HPV_vaccines_scientific_facts.html#ixzz26PjDYrmO

Never Ending Knowledge

So the office is getting very political lately, but it doesn't bother me, I actually enjoy the food for thought. George actually sent out a company wide e-mail this morning and it really got me thinking how we as human beings never stop learning. Day to day we observe and absorb everything around us. Some have a bigger appetite for knowledge than others. And some have an appetite for knowledge that only pertains to things that interest them. I am one of these people. I already have a clear understanding as to what is important in life and I still have a lot to learn. Am I satisfied by what I've learned? I can say for certain, "HELL NO"!! Even now, I don't feel like an adult or someone ready to pass down knowledge or wisdom to the future generation. I would like to at least get my bachelors degree before having children. But anyways, read this and tell me your thoughts

 

 

 

           Thomas L Friedman

I JUST arrived in Shanghai, but I’m thinking about Estonia and wondering about something Presidents Clinton and Obama have been saying.

Wired magazine reported last week that public schools in Estonia are establishing a program for teaching first graders — and kids in all other grades — how to do computer programming. Wired said that the curriculum was created “because of the difficulty Estonian companies face in hiring programmers. Estonia has a burgeoning tech industry thanks in part to the success of Skype, which was developed in Estonia in 2003.”

The news from Estonia prompted The Guardian newspaper of London to publish an online poll asking its readers: “Children aged 7 to 16 are being given the opportunity to learn how to code in schools in Estonia, should U.K. school children be taught programming as part of their school day?” It’s fascinating to read about all this while visiting Shanghai, whose public school system in 2010 beat the rest of the world in math, science and reading in the global PISA exam of 15-year-olds. Will the Chinese respond by teaching programming to preschoolers?

All of this made me think Obama should stop using the phrase — first minted by Bill Clinton in 1992 — that if you just “work hard and play by the rules” you should expect that the American system will deliver you a decent life and a chance for your children to have a better one. That mantra really resonates with me and, I am sure, with many voters. There is just one problem: It’s out of date.

The truth is, if you want a decent job that will lead to a decent life today you have to work harder, regularly reinvent yourself, obtain at least some form of postsecondary education, make sure that you’re engaged in lifelong learning and play by the rules. That’s not a bumper sticker, but we terribly mislead people by saying otherwise.

Why? Because when Clinton first employed his phrase in 1992, the Internet was just emerging, virtually no one had e-mail and the cold war was just ending. In other words, we were still living in a closed system, a world of walls, which were just starting to come down. It was a world before Nafta and the full merger of globalization and the information technology revolution, a world in which unions and blue-collar manufacturing were still relatively strong, and where America could still write a lot of the rules that people played by.

That world is gone. It is now a more open system. Technology and globalization are wiping out lower-skilled jobs faster, while steadily raising the skill level required for new jobs. More than ever now, lifelong learning is the key to getting into, and staying in, the middle class.

There is a quote attributed to the futurist Alvin Toffler that captures this new reality: In the future “illiteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and write, but by those who cannot learn and relearn.” Any form of standing still is deadly.

I covered the Republican convention, and I was impressed in watching my Times colleagues at how much their jobs have changed. Here’s what a reporter does in a typical day: report, file for the Web edition, file for The International Herald Tribune, tweet, update for the Web edition, report more, track other people’s tweets, do a Web-video spot and then write the story for the print paper. You want to be a Times reporter today? That’s your day. You have to work harder and smarter and develop new skills faster.

Van Ton-Quinlivan, the vice chancellor for work force and economic development at the California Community Colleges System, explained to me the four basic skill sets out there today. The first are people who are “ready now.” That’s people with exactly the right skills an employer is looking for at the right time. Employers will give the local labor market and schools the first chance at providing those people, but if they are not available they’ll go the “shortest distance to find them,” she said, and today that could be anywhere in the world. Companies who can’t find “ready now” will look for “ready soon,” people who, with limited training and on-the-job experience, can fit right in. If they can’t find those, some will hire “work ready.” These are people with two or four years of postsecondary education who can be trained, but companies have shrinking budgets for that now and want public schools to do it. Last are the growing legions of the “far from ready,” people who dropped out or have only a high school diploma. Their prospects for a decent job are small, even if they are ready to “work hard and play by the rules.”

Which is why if we ever get another stimulus it has to focus, in part, on getting more people more education. The unemployment rate today is 4.1 percent for people with four years of college, 6.6 percent for those with two years, 8.8 percent for high school graduates, and 12.0 percent for dropouts.

That’s why I prefer the new mantra floated by Clinton at the Democratic convention, “We have to prepare more Americans for the new jobs that are being created in a world fueled by new technology. That’s why investments in our people” — in more community colleges, Pell grants and vocational-training classes — “are more important than ever.”

Another World

As a second part to yesterday's post I had some additional thoughts about life. One must never dwell on the past, but you must wonder who you would be if certain pivotal moments in your life were different. You also must think of what those defining moments might be. It is impossible to know since our reality is purely subjective and none of us are omnipotent.

Several months ago I had rented a horribly depressing movie call Another Earth. It was incredibly tragic, but the premise was thought provoking. One day people look into the night sky and they see a bright blue star. Time inches along over years, the star appears bigger and brighter. Its no longer a star, its a planet. The closer it gets more people notice it eerily resembles Earth. Then the other Earth contacts them. There are people there and more shockingly they're all the same people. Everyone is there just a little different than they are here.

I often wonder who I might be if my life was different. I have thought many times how it would have been if my father hadn't killed himself. It is only one example of important events in my life. I could be different if my parents never divorced and so on. Would I have been any happier than I am now? Doubtfully. You also begin to wonder what affect you have on other's lives.

When I hear music I feel as though I can sense a thin veil of another reality. So close that I can almost experience it in some way. I see another me impervious to my own plights and insecurities. A me with sense and purpose, of excitement and creation. A person grounded where ever they may go. My ideal self. While this is delusional to think, we all in some way live vicariously though a better self. Whether it is through an anonymous username or game avatar or maybe just a day dream. I hope the other me is living enough life for the both of us.

A Place Where Nobody Can Smile

Here it is Wednesday, statistically the most depressing day of the week. I look out the window and see the same degenerates walking up and down the street as usual. Out of habit I watch my car as they pass by. I see the mute back drop of my daily existence. It doesn't help that I'm listening to Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor. Back to the motions.

We often hear the term 'rose-colored glasses'; what is the opposite of that? I'd imagine it as more of an immersion helmet. We all see our lives differently. I tend to think of Wristcutters when I look at my existence. Dismal landscape, shitty cars, laughable jobs and menial pleasures. The ironic similarities between that movie and San Angelo are quite amusing. Days like this make you wonder what brought you to this moment in your life.

You look back 10 years ago or more and you think about what your life plan was, your aspirations, your goals. Some people were going to be writers, others successful professionals, most of us probably thought living outside of this place at the very least. My plan was probably lowliest of all, but I accomplished it, if you want to call it an accomplishment. I knew I'd graduate high school, get a job, work, get married, have kids and get a house. Now that I'm done with that, whats left? Death. I'll work and eventually die. I never tried to kid myself with grandiose ideas of traveling the world, meeting interesting people, being important or monetary pleasures. Some days I try to give myself a pep talk, which is just a private joke between myself and I.

Did I ever have any aspirations? Maybe....long before I became jaded. I think the thing I wanted most way back then was to be away from my family. I no longer wanted to hear or see their burdens. I didn't want to be apart of them, I didn't want to be apart of San Angelo. When I think back on it, most of my aspirations were made of things that I didn't want instead of things I did. I no longer wanted to be at the mercy of others.  I failed in that respect, but the reality of it is that we'll always be at the mercy of others. Its easier to get back in line with the others. Once I wanted to be a chef. At another time I wanted to be a curator. The thing I've wanted most in life is freedom. The freedom to soar without obligations. To truly experience wonderlust. Will I ever? Doubtfully. Whats the solution to all this? Antidepressants. Robots don't feel enough to care.

What did you want your life to be like? What were you going to do? What will you do?

Fuck Lunch

I've decided that I intensely hate the lunch hour. It is the single most depressing part of the day. Now I'm not a hater of eating, just lunch. And that is for a number of reasons:

1. Packing your lunch sucks...there aren't many good things to pack. Sandwiches get old very quickly. Canned soup is unbearable. I refuse to eat frozen meals. We never have left overs. Most of the things I make couldn't be reheated anyways.
2. I work in the shittiest part of town. Far away from everything. Not that I want to spend a fortune.
3. I've become known as the dependable lunch time phone answerer. They don't even ask if I have plans anymore, thats how pathetic I am.
4. There is not a single person that I can lunch with again because I work clear across the North side of San Angelo. Its not that I want a meal bought, sometimes I'd just like to talk to someone in person for once.
5. I hate the fucking assholes who come into the office or call at lunch. NO ONE IS HERE TO HELP OR TALK TO YOU.
6. I hate seeing everyone coming back refreshed and jubilant from lunch. I'm sure as hell not refreshed or jubilant, in fact I'm feeling quite disgruntle.
7. There's no point in going home. I end up just wanting to punch Otto in the face. I know there's nothing at home for me except chores. Plus there's not a point to going home when I could be here milking hours.
8. Eating by yourself is pathetic.

So ya. Fuck lunch.

Journal Challenge

I saw a pin on pinterest regarding 30 day journal challenges. I did a little research and its a very neat idea. Now I know some of you aren't in for sharing time. But it is interesting to pick a prompt for the day, instead of sharing your personal day to days. I'd like to do something like this with you guys if you're willing to participate. I don't want to do the same generic list of topics. How about we submit prompt ideas and we could raffle them daily? Ideally, the journals would be in paper and pen, with freedom to illustrate etc. At the end of the thirty days we could pass the journals around, or something to that effect, or possible post the single day journal entries via jpg or pdf here on the blog. Anyone interested?

this is a topic that is fairly close to my heart and one that i foolishly thought could not still be in practice. how can america be on the wrong side of this issue?? it boggles my mind. My grandma betty and her family used to be migrant farm laborers. she's told me stories of how she would pick cotton with her mom instead of attending school. they eventually saved enough money and started a business and bought a nice house, but how many other people are not so lucky?? This video is worth a watch and brings to light several good points. its definitely worth watching.

Angry Dome

I am feeling especially cantankerous today. Anyone else get those urges? I'd like to hop on a horse with my trusty battle ax and invade a nearby village. Then proceed to pillage and burn. Some days I wake up and hope Aenema plays out.

I need an angry dome. I'm taking orders now. Let me enumerate my aggression:

-Blind benevolence
-Complacency
-Citizens of San Angelo
-Lack of good movies on HBO
-Rerouting of the North bound intersection of Bryant and 19th St
-FB
-The news
-Lack of money

Oh great flying spaghetti monster please distract me from my intense hatred of everything. Amen.

Baby KA-BOOMers

I am sick to my teeth hearing baby boomers complain about the demonetization of their generation. They just aren't willing to accept the responsibility. All they can talk about is what they contributed. What I find sad is that fact that so many boomers claim responsibility of social contributions that were endeavored only a few a of their generation. YOU didn't make Bill Gates and YOU didn't help Bill Gates do anything. Bill Gates made himself and his legacy. Along with all the other famed trail blazers of that generation.

Boomers still consume at hedonistic rates as they did in their prime. The whole world and economy is falling apart and yet they still sit there with their hands out waiting for their checks. Whats left for the rest of us? Nothing, scraps at which we fight over. Most of the focus is on class warfare, what we should be worried about is the old person riding on our backs.

I'm not saying we should throw the elderly to the wolves. What I am saying is that they can't have their cake and eat it too. They can claim as many SS contribution years as they want. Fact of the matter is that due to inflation your contributions mean shit. They should get SS that is directly proportional to the amount that they paid in regardless of the cost of living. We should help in their care, but only in proportion to overall social welfare.

I don't know what the definitive answer is, but the entitlement has to stop. I would hope that by the time I become enfeebled and useless, voluntary euthanization will have been legalized. The moment I become a burden to my family and society, I want to be dead.

Everytown USA

This morning as many of us started our day we were faced with tribulation as we went online. We were incited with a very sobering reality of what can be. We are geeks that have been patiently awaiting the last release of the Dark Knight trilogy. I'm sure some of you and some of our friends were at our own local midnight screenings. Another state away other geeks were excitingly waiting for the screening when their lives  were unfairly cut short. An angry coward decidedly passed judgement upon their mortality. He unfortunately was able to bring his intent to fruition. I will not call this a tragedy. Tragedy is when someone accidentally drowns at the lake. A tragedy is when a child gets cancer. This is just murder.

We are left to examine how we spend our lives and how we treat people. I feel terribly for this man's family. We always hear about prayers and thoughts going to victims, but we never hear about the family. I can relate to this greatly. I can tell you from experience you question every moment you had with this individual. You carry enormous guilt and shame. You can't walk away from it, you're blood. Victims will always been remembered in a positive light. She was a wonderful girl so full of life. He was loved by all that knew him. The perpetrator is burned into everyone's mind as one thing; evil. Which is rightly true, but we all forget that they were human like the rest of us. At one time the individual was someone's beloved child, another's best friend and a regular person. We will always be left with one question: What brought them to this? The family is left with: What could I have done to change this outcome? What did I do wrong? Many times there is nothing that anyone could have done. The person is ultimately responsible for their actions.

We need to remember that this could have happened to any of us. We shouldn't dwell on the whatif. But it is important to really examine what is important to you. After all, our lives are merely blips in the grand scheme of the universe. We must also be much more aware on how we affect others. Is it really worth it flipping off that guy you were stuck behind in traffic? Is that the tipping point for that individual? Should you purposefully incite anger in someone who's angered you? Should you berate another unknown person online? 

I will not give the knee-jerk support "my heart and prayers go to the victims" as it is meaningless in this day and age. The truth is that my mind and soul has gone into lost lives of the victims. The older I've gotten and with children I have become more and more aware of my own mortality. Our lives are short. We must conduct ourselves in a way in which we may live without regret.

Disgust

I wanted to share this opinion article from the NYTimes regarding our extreme individualism. It completely exemplifies my disgust with our society and culture. I am not saying we should be socialists. I just want to point out how it seems that everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too. We're all incredibly selfish. Even in the name of altruism we're still self absorbed. I'm sick of hearing about everyone's individualism, of accommodating for the needs of the one, of their so called freedoms. Everyone is so keen to cut off the nose to spite the face. To summarize a famous quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/opinion/bruni-individualism-in-overdrive.html?_r=1&ref=opinion