I remember during the supposed "Great Recession" waiting at a movie theater and noticing how many people were purchasing $10 vats of popcorn without hesitation. I had to ask, are we really hurting? A few years later this article was published. Spending on Halloween has gone up without the blink of an eye. The days of spray painting a rock and calling it a gravestone seem to be over.... now you can just buy one. Plus we can all afford it!
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I mentioned in my article "Where is the Upper 1%" that it is very unlikely for people from different socio-economic classes get involved in romantic relationships with each other. I was once homeless, and I'm now married to wealthy woman. Well.... she's not a millionaire or anything, but she certainly makes more money than me. The article below describes that within a generation, women will be making more than men. The world is definitely changing!
I don’t mind saying it….. I come from what I consider to be a very wealthy family. I’ve had countless opportunities that others couldn’t dream of. My parents are generous individuals who paid for me my entire extended college career. They give me substantial amounts of money on an annual basis (at holidays) and have helped pay for large item purchases such as home(s) and weddings etc.
Even with all that support, at one point in my life, I made a conscious decision to live in virtual poverty. I’ve worked at minimum wage jobs, I was homeless for extended periods of time, I’ve used services found at homeless shelters, and I’ve gotten help from community clinics for health care related issues. Nonetheless, my social status in relation to my upbringing puts me in the upper middle class. I have many friends who are doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. You name the white-collar job, and I have good friends and family who work in the field. At gatherings, I have always been the lowest wage earner. The one thing that has always fascinated me, considering my point of view, is how wealthy people generally don’t intermingle with lower class citizens. I never met a doctor who is married to a gas station attendant or a lawyer who is married to a waiter. Because of this, the so called “upper 1%” will always remain together and impoverished Americans will remain in their segregated enclaves as is suggested by the outline below.
A variety of perspectives can be applied to the interpretation of various historical events. As time passes, it is not uncommon for our understanding of specific events to get reinterpreted. So when we look back on the actions of our forefathers, we might see negative (or positive) behaviors that were not so obvious at the time of the incident. The three videos below show a few different perspectives of American History.
It must be noted that we are taught history at all grade levels throughout our lives, and it is necessary to whitewash much of the negativity out of the overall story to make it less intense for younger students. With that, I’m under the impression that by middle school, a student is fully capable of addressing the bad behavior of our predecessors and our nation, thus beginning at that age, we can begin to tell the full story….. both the good and the bad. Of course, we are not going to become historians by watching sarcastic cartoons about the history of the United States. We would need to do intensive research of primary and secondary sources, attend seminars, write and edit material (various media), discuss conceptual viewpoints with other individuals, etc. In the meantime, these videos might give us a jumpstart to a better understanding of American History.
As a child of the 80's, the distractions of life included anything from watered down beer to MTV. My sport of choice was skateboarding due to it's lack of competitive nature. Just chill out and ride - no worries &%$@?! I moved to ski country and rode bowls and trees. The high country also had hang loose activities such as cliff jumping and tubing that kept me preoccupied.
When I moved back to a less exciting part of the world, I found myself re-entering the skateboarding scene, as it was a sport that could be conducted anywhere. The problem was, it had been over ten years since I last rode vert, so it was not an activity that was going to come easy. When I saw the article listed below, I had an immense amount of compassion for the author. For the sake of encouragement, I included one of my favorite vids on the subject (see below article). Enjoy!!
Thanksgiving was not always my favorite holiday. I'm a straightforward, free spirited person. The food that is served at this holiday event always seems to be the most streamlined of any holiday, meaning variety is not a priority. This lack options in terms of adaptability for hosts, means that they will have difficulty pleasing the tastes and needs of their guests. I eat and personally enjoy everything except animal products. That means no turkey on Turkey-Day!! One reason for my dietary restriction has to do with the lack of sanitation at the average American slaughterhouse.... I lived in the cowbelt for over a decade, and the smell that emanated from the killing floor was a repulsive disaster. I do eat fish, with the understanding that they are free-range creatures, thus their living situation is controlled by their natural environment, not human budgetary decisions. The clearest way to put my dietary habits to an offended host is "if it shits on itself, I don't eat it". With that description, free range animal meat would be acceptable, but after watching this video, I have taken some hesitation to that frame of mind:
I have a friend who bought a tattoo gun many years ago, and although he lived in Massachusetts where tattooing was illegal, he managed to practice his skills on members of the underworld.... to a point that we would humorously refer to his clients as victims. He did great work, but because they would request outlandish things such as marijuana leaves on their foreheads, we made jest of the situation! He now owns a successful legal tattoo business and when we were recently catching up on old times, he told me about an unforgettable trip that he took to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base where he provided members of the US Military with tattoos. The article below made me think of him. It's also a great way to understand what goes thru the minds of the men (and women?) who serve our nation.
Every community makes a special effort to recognize people who are outstanding, but if these people do not meet certain socially accepted criteria, then the community often attempts to revoke them of their achievement status. Cheating, criminal behavior, personal character, or a person’s ethical values can disqualify them from being recognized as a high achiever. These people can be scrutinize and chastised by the public, but ultimately, it is often a panel of judges who represent a specific industry (sports, science, music, movies, etc.), who decides the fate and recognition of a participant. These officials can revoke the persons right to participate in the said activity, or they can refuse to acknowledge the person’s achievements. Sports seems to be the industry which scrutinizes its participants to the highest degree. If a sports hero uses performance enhancing drugs to achieve success, that person is often revoked of his or her record holding status. But what if poor officiating results in the loss of recognition for an athlete? What if the person uses drugs that are the opposite of performance enhancing? What if judges are corrupt or bribed into choosing the winner of an event? What if a high achiever is arrested for a criminal behavior that is completely unrelated to their participation in a specific activity? Is the industry ready to recognize it’s own accounting errors? I think it’s time that we move away from scrutinizing the particularities of each situation. We need to accept accomplishments regardless of drug use or anything else that isn’t blatant cheating. I propose building a “Hall of Shame” that recognizes those who were ignored by their industry representatives. Here’s the thing, plenty of people have used drugs and they are still recognized for their achievements: Jimi Hendrix used a ton of drugs and he is regarded as a brilliant musician - it is arguable that he would not have been as inventive had he not been under the influence.... therefore is he a cheater? Ross Rebagliati is a professional snowboarder from Canada who had his gold medal revoked because he tested positive for marijuana use. The knee jerk reaction to revoke his medal proves the ignorance of the Olympic Committee, who later reinstated his victory status with the understanding that marijuana is not a performance enhancing drug. Professional Skateboarders are renowned for their open use of drugs, but their criminal credentials are not audited, as the industry realizes each individual’s independence is more important than the sport’s image. It is a well known fact that some American Soldiers during the Vietnam War smoked marijuana, even while they served on the battlefield. Would we revoke them of their awards for heroism, even though they may have been under the influence of drugs? NEVER!! No matter how much we might disagree with our government’s decision to enter any war, we have to understand that we have elected our officials in a largely democratic way, and our servicemen took exemplary risks during their tours of duty, and their honor and courage should be recognized. Jack Nicholson is just one in a large selection of Academy Award winners who have been known to use drugs - did his experience with drugs help his performance, and should his awards be revoked? My “Hall of Shame” would also include people who are not recognized by their peers, but their violations borderline what is acceptable: Pete Rose was not discovered to be gambling/betting on baseball games that he participated in, but the baseball industry has still decided against recognizing his amazing achievements on the field. Lance Armstrong was using using illegal methods to enhance his performance, but he was never caught for his activities. Basically all major participants in the sport of cycling were using the same enhancement tricks that he has been chastised for, so lets just accept that fact and recognize that he is the greatest performer that the sport has seen to this day? Same with Barry Bonds!! Joe Paterno’s amazing skills as a head coach will be ignored because of his knowledge and cover-up of sexual abuse that was happening at the facility he manage, but I would see to it that he was recognized at my “Hall of Shame”. Another thought is in regards to officials making bad calls - shouldn’t we recognize the teams or performers who lost their competitions because of bad officiating? In 1990, the University of Colorado beat Missouri State by 33-31 in a “weird” situation that gave them a “fifth down” thus allowing them to score the winning points in the final seconds of the game. Michael Jordan pushed Bryon Russell on the final shot of his career in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, which put the Bulls over the Jazz for their sixth championship. If a foul was called on this play, the game certainly could have had a different outcome. Lennox Lewis fought Evander Holyfield at Madison Square Garden in 1999 and the judges determined Holyfield to be the winner, although Lewis arguably landed 200 punches more than Holyfield. Now some individuals have been discovered to be blatant cheaters, and they would be recognized in my “Hall of Shame”, but it would be tough to rationalize their “achievements”: Tonya Harding might have been a fantastic ice skater, but because she was involved in a scheme that involved her bodyguard hiring a person to break the legs of her rival Nancy Kerrigan prior to a major competition, it will be tough to give her credit for her skills. Milli Vanilli won a Grammy Award for “Best New Artist” in 1990, but it was later revealed that they did not sing on the recordings that they produced, and their Grammy Award was revoked. I would argue that they were first and foremost entertainers, and it was their image and presentation that allowed them to achieve success, not their performance (or lack thereof) on the recording. If you ask me, the American Music Awards did the right thing by not withdrawing the three awards that they received from that organization... they won fair and square, but a valid argument can certainly be made against my point of view on this one. Rosie Ruiz was suspected of cheating during the Boston Marathon when she completed it in record time, even though she did not show signs of physical excursion. To this day she still claims to be the legitimate winner of the race, but most authorities on the subject discredit her and claim that she most likely did not run the entire course. Nonetheless, she was not officially recognized as the leader in the woman’s division of the race, but in the my “Hall of Shame” her story would be documented and patrons at my museum could formulate their own interpretation of the event. Lastly, the science community heralds Albert Einstein as one of the greatest minds in the history of the world, but really..... what was he smoking in that pipe?
People often define themselves by their residential status. They express egotism based on the fact that they live in a warm climate or near the ocean or mountains. Sometimes they pride themselves with “toughness” because they live in unbearably frigid places. People have convoluted their perspectives of jingoistic pride to such a degree that they often actually think that they are personally better than their fellow citizens from other parts of the country, simply because their sports team recently won a championship game. The prevalence of regional misanthropy and discrimination is especially prevalent in Northern States with a bias against Southern States. Here is how the breakdown works, as I see it: Northerners hate Southerners Arizonians hate Mexicans Coloradans hate Texans Oregonians hate Californians People from Massachusetts hate New Yorkers People from Vermont hate people from Massachusetts Canadians hate Americans The only disclaimer here is that Southerners also hate Northerners, but Southerners are automatically polite and hospitable to everyone they meet, therefore they hide their anger, so it doesn’t count. My thoughts regarding this overall juvenile attitude, of which is so prevalent in our nation, is that it’s complete nonsense. I have lived all over this country and I have met plenty of assholes everywhere. Fortunately, our divided nation self-segregates itself to a point that people only live in areas that reflect their own ideals. Hippies live in Burlington (VT), Boulder (CO), and Berklee (CA). Gay people live in Key West (FL), Provincetown (MA), and the Castro District of San Francisco (CA). Black people live in cities and white people live in the suburbs. Christians live in the Farmbelt and Non-Christians live anywhere but the Farmbelt. I have come to the conclusion that idiots exists in every region of our great nation, therefore they are unavoidable. I can’t evade the assholes, but I am comfortable living almost anywhere, so the next consideration when choosing a home for myself is personal indemnity. In other words, where can I live and be safe from natural disasters such tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and hurricanes? After studying the outline below, I have validated that the safest place in the United States is just north of Flint, MI. As I write this, I am confirming my U-Haul reservations and packing my things for a move to the world famous mid-western coldfront in hopes of a safer life, albeit surrounded by inconsiderate jerks as I would expect find anywhere and everywhere.
I am the type of person who does not desist from discussing anything and everything with others, including my wife. She is still relatively young (at age 26), and I am usually 13 years her elder (you do the math), so we have our generational differences. As a person who promotes excessive behavior, I was proud to learn that our American Youth had adopted a much more assertive version of the sexual bases. In order to survive Middle School, it is practically mandatory for everyone to experience all of the sexual bases, even if it’s only in their own imagination. I was having a conversation with my wife the other day about a few experiences that I had with a couple of make-believe girlfriends whom I was with when I was in Middle School. As I proceeded to tell her about the large breasts that I discovered when I made it to second base, she corrected me, and mentioned that I must have experienced much more than breasts (ex. digital intercourse). Our conversation led to the realization that the sexual bases have changed….. apparently at some point in the early 1990’s. Pre-1990’s Sexual Bases:
1st: Kissing 2nd: Fondling Breasts 3rd: Hand Job 4th: Sex 1990’s and Beyond: 1st: Kissing (Same) 2nd: Hand Job 3rd: Blow Job 4th: Sex |
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October 2016
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