Extreme Honesty's topics - tribe.net

I just can't let go

2012-12-06T19:42:32Z

It's been months since I checked in on tribe - I just can't seem to let go even though I have connected with a lot of my tribe friends on facebook - it's just not the same!

This time my check-in here was sadder than most. The ads have become ridiculously in-your-face and the ads themselves are so far off base as far as the tribe demographic goes that I would laugh about it if it weren't so tragic.

I want my old tribe back!!!!!

*sigh* I know the only thing we can count on is change but whyyyyyyyy?????? (In my best Nancy Kerrigan wail)

posted in Extreme Honesty - 23 replies

Ever feel like just giving up ?

2012-07-21T03:20:41Z

I regard myself as a fairly tough cookie, but not in an all-round sense. I can sometimes be emotional and in many ways I am this strange mix of ambition and complacency. Talent and stupidity. I have been through a lot I guess, but much of it I haven’t noticed… people commend me for some of my achievements, but I did them just because they needed doing. Most of the really notable ones were not about me but others. Sometimes I look at my life and feel like I have sold myself short, in looking after others I have not done a great job looking after myself, especially financially. I worry about my future and where I will be at, but then balance that against the value of what I am doing at the moment and decided I think it is important and hope to the gods everything will just work out. Here’s hoping.

But the last couple of weeks have been really tough. People here will know (if any of them are left) I have a problem with my eyesight. I started a new business late last year and it is going well, but I had a bleed in one of my eyes the other week and my eyesight has become poorer yet again. I feel like almost anything I do is sitting on a house of cards and if I fall over, I get up and get a while where I start to jog, only to fall over.

I guess I am tired. It takes a lot of energy to try to stay positive. It takes a lot of energy to run a business, and I am involved in three, one in distress and one start up. It takes the most energy to lead, and I have leadership roles in … I dunno… six organisations (voluntary half of them) Finding decent successors is really hard, incredibly rewarding when it happens, but hard. And the pettiness and small-mindedness takes so much energy to overcome and the frustration of stupid actions leaving to inevitable results despite warnings.

Sometimes I just feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. Especially when there seems no space to hide from life’s demands.

Ever feel like that ?

If you do, what do you do to overcome it. Me.. I usually look for a bit of alone time.. but I cant think of the last time I got any

posted in Extreme Honesty - 6 replies

The Nature of Freedom.

2011-10-02T23:45:29Z

I recently saw a television interview with an author who was talking about America and the concept of “Freedom”.

He sighted the recent Health Care Reform as an example. He described how opponents objected on the grounds they should have the “Freedom’ who choose which doctor or hospital they sort help. He said, “I would rather know that I am assumed of actually getting medical attention – that freedom from worry is real freedom.”

This kind of concept has also crept into some discussions on gun control. People saying they should have the Freedom to bear arms. Others saying they should have the Freedom and security to not have to carry a weapon to defend themselves.

Do you have thoughts on the above and the nature of what is "perceived" Freedom as opposed to real “Freedom” ?

Can people who are interrelated with others ever truly be Free ?

Is Freedom a Myth ?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 58 replies

Every site except facebook is dying

2011-09-08T22:10:25Z

Facebook is ok as a tool to keep in touch with people. But the games are really annoying.

The forums I used to go to...sites like this...and even myspace (which I've always loathed but was drawn into a little bit). Its all going away for one big juggernaut of online networking.

Maybe its a good thing for people like me who've spent way too much time online anyways. But I kinda miss the old escapism.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 31 replies

Question for Christians

2011-06-19T01:30:25Z

So I was going through the TV dial on Easter Sunday and came across TV Preacher Joel Osteen. He said, "Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose on Easter Sunday". Do any of you actually beleive this? The date of Easter is different every year so there is no way that is a true statement. Why can't big time mainstream Christianity make any sense of dates and anniversaries?

I guess they do OK on Christmas since its always celebrated on Jesus' un-birthday December 25th even though its generally accepted that that wasn't Jesus' birthday.

I guess if you beleive in invisible men in the sky and zombie Jesus you might as well mess with the dates.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 24 replies

Do you like to talk politics ? A non-ideological discussion

2011-04-23T01:57:00Z

I guess I *am* a political spectator. I often feel any social action I take is well divorced of politics. I can’t see myself ever joining a political party to effect some kind of change to the fabric of our lives, preferring to work on a micro personal level locally. That said, I actually know I have effected legislation while working on a “mirco” level.. While I have a fair few “political” contacts both in parties and in parliament, having been quoted there several times, frankly I mostly cringe when someone introduces politics into conversation, bracing myself for the almost inevitable party politics and ideological rhetoric which is often accompanied by some very stupid statements.

There has been a lot of political chat in this tribe of late.. and once it has stopped .. the tribe has too.

Now “issues”.. I love to talk about “issues”…, but can the “issues’ of the day actually be divorced from politics ?

Do you like to talk politics or are you like me and tend to wander off when folks start on the dreaded topic ?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 36 replies

When really old friends contact you

2011-01-04T03:47:34Z

So on Facebook my first <so I thought> true love contacted me. I feel a bit wierded out. I am not the same boy she dated. She has become religious, asked about my relati0nships, <told her I was poly> Has anyone navigated these waters before? More importantly.... Why the fuck do I care after 20+ years. This is a new one for me, input would be appreciated.

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 9 replies

Does age equal wisdom?

2010-11-11T01:04:07Z

In my opinion, experience does not always equate to depth or knowledge. I'm wondering about, specifically, the idea that only those that have experienced extreme hardships can fully embody enlightenment. How much of being wise, grounded, and deeply compassionate is experience vs., say, being an "old soul", if you believe in such things? I ask because all of the wisest people I know, the souls that feel the oldest to me, have experienced such deep pain in their pasts, seem to have some place of deep perspective and strength through which to view any current hassles. I am quick to discredit anyone's perspective that has had a sweet and easy life, and I don't actually want to do that, but I can't find myself trusting their credibility. Alternately, there are plenty of people that have had lives that are absolute train wrecks, but there's no growth there. For example, my own mom, while she's lived a long time, and has had a really hard life, she's still just so new and clueless about how to be in the world, thus my being conflicted about how age/experience relate to wisdom, enlightendness, and intelligence. Stove's hot - OW! Stove's hot - OW! Stove's hot - OW!!! The self-protect mode of just not touching the fucking stove doesn't kick in, for some reason. Thoughts? Thank you - I deeply value your input! I will be posting this in multiple spots, but that's because I deeply appreciate all of your perspectives, dear ones. If you'd prefer to PM me, it's all good. Thank you, Bless you, and take good care! ~ Misha

posted in Extreme Honesty - 19 replies

Solitude

2010-10-31T22:22:28Z

So apparently im being kicked out of my current place to live becasue i dont partake of everyonse drama, i work two jobs most days 10 hours a day, or more, i clean up after myself, im polite and honest, i keep my life private and stay out of everyones way and i pay my bills on time everytime, adn then im confronted with this stupidity. Seriously?

Im easy to get along with, i never raise my voice or act out in anger, i barely drink and i never do drugs, i just like to keep my private life private, i dont get involved with other peoples business and i dont like it when others pry into mine, i kinda figured this wasa respect thing. Apparently BECAUSE i work two jobs these people think that i should contribute more, but doesnt that go agasint our original agreement? WOuldnt you expect for a guy busting his ass to get his own place to try HARD to do just that? Nad because i have saved some mooney and the others are slackers and cant pay their bill, that means I HAVE to pay it for them?
C'mon, who out there has dealt with this before? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD please dont tell me im the only one, id go mad.

WTF!?? if i make an agreement i stick to it, PERIOD. I pay my bills, and i keep out of everyones way, as far as i can tell that pretty much makes me the perfect roomie, but people i keep running into seem to think im supposed to pay THEIR bills for them, and get involved with their drama, he said she said, my gf/bf is a so and so, etc etc, do i REALLY have to get involved in this immature petty BULLSHIT to keep the peace and remain a tenant? Do people NEED me to constantly get into their business and talk about their whole freaking LIVES just so they can feel secure? HOW pathetic IS THAT???

posted in Extreme Honesty - 4 replies

Dating someone twenty years your junior/ senior

2010-10-19T09:31:58Z

Out of the 1710 people that are a part of this extreme honesty community it seems that ten of you are the ones that strongly voice what you think about almost anything under the sun. I was hoping that you ten would help me with this querry.

What opinions are out there about dating someone who is either noticeably older or younger than someone. Man/ woman, woman/ man, man/man, woman/woman? Is this question moot? or am I just completely out of the loop?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 29 replies

"White America Has Lost Its Mind"

2010-10-11T22:09:43Z

The white brain, beset with worries, finally goes haywire in spectacular fashion

- By Steven Thrasher

About 12:01 on the afternoon of January 20, 2009, the white American mind began to unravel.

It had been a pretty good run up to that point. The brains of white folks had been humming along cogently for near on 400 years on this continent, with little sign that any serious trouble was brewing. White people, after all, had managed to invent a spiffy new form of self-government so that all white men (and, eventually, women) could have a say in how white people were taxed and governed. White minds had also nearly universally occupied just about every branch of that government and, for more than two centuries, had kept sole possession of the leadership of its executive branch (whose parsonage, after all, is called the White House).

But when that streak was broken—and, for the first time, a non-white president accepted the oath of office—white America rapidly began to lose its grip.

As with other forms of dementia, the signs weren't obvious at first. After the 2008 election, when former House majority leader Tom DeLay suggested that instead of a formal inauguration, Barack Obama should "have a nice little chicken dinner, and we'll save the $125 million," black folks didn't miss the implication. References to chicken, particularly of the fried variety, have long served as a kind of code when white folks referred to black people and their gustatory preferences—and weren't many of us already accustomed to older white politicians making such gaffes? But who among us sensed that it was a harbinger that an entire nation was plunging into madness?

Who didn't chuckle, after all, the first time they heard that white people had doubts that Barack Obama had even been born in the United States and was therefore ineligible to be president? It sounded like one of those Internet stories in which some (usually white) writer does his best to prove something everyone knows to be true is actually the exact opposite. And you go along with it for a few paragraphs to see how long the writer can convince you that what you know is right is actually wrong.

Seemed like that, didn't it? After all, what was the beef? Obama's father was Kenyan, and the kid was born in Hawaii—which is barely a part of the United States to begin with (only a state in 1959!). His mother was white, and after the Kenyan guy left, she married an Indonesian guy, so little Barack lived in Jakarta for a while before coming back to Hawaii to be brought up largely by his white grandparents. . . . And that's it? Come on, this was after-school-special material, the kind of thing that brings a tear to your eye because little half-Kenyan/half-white Barry made good, not the stuff of conspiracy novels.

But the more you shook your head at it, the more it seemed to have taken root deep in the lizard part of the white nervous system. Obama is not an American. He says he's Christian, but he has a Muslim-sounding name. He's not black, he's not white. . . . Is . . . is he even human?

Today, Newsweek has found, nearly a quarter of Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim, with barely 42 percent of the nation accepting his claim that he's a Christian. CNN finds that a quarter of Americans also believe that Obama was "probably or definitely" born in another country.

Harris found in an online poll that 14 percent of Americans believe in their hearts that President Barack Obama is the antichrist, with nearly a quarter of Republicans saying so.

At least in this form, however, Satan (sometimes) wears a flag pin.

What was going on? Had decades of sucking down so much high-fructose corn syrup not only made Americans incredibly obese, but also messed with white brain chemistry to the point that some sort of tipping point had occurred?

con't - http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-29/news/white-america-has-lost-its-mind/

posted in Extreme Honesty - 13 replies

Global competative rankings

2010-09-12T23:34:56Z

http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm

I'll be damned if there is not a single capitalist nation in the top ten (the US as we are repeatedly reminded is no longer a capitalist nation but is rather increasingly socialistic)

Seems Democratic Socialist Nations are pretty damn dominant. Ya know nations like Sweden that have Socialized medicine, education and industry.

But hey ya know all those programs designed to take care of workers and people are just plain harmful (right Les)

Looking at the list Nations in South America that the World Bank has forced to take loans and sell off assets including eliminating public health are not real high. Seems Liaise a Faire capitalism just doesn't compete on the world stage

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 9 replies

To explain what believe

2010-08-29T21:40:17Z

many call me a socialist. This likely does not go far enough concerning how left wing I am.
Came across this article on Communist Anarchism and it made a great deal of sense. Yes I understand that a nation like the US could not survive this but fuck it, I don't believe this nation should survive.
"Chapter 1: What Do You Want Out Of Life?

What is it that every one wants most in life? What do you want most?

After all, we are all the same under our skins. Whoever you be - man or woman, rich or poor, aristocrat or tramp, white, yellow, red or black, of whatever land, nationality, or religion - we are all alike in feeling cold and hunger, love and hate; we all fear disaster and disease, and try to keep away from harm and death.

What you most want out of life, what you fear most, that also is true, in the main, of your neighbor.

Learned men have written big books, many of them, on sociology, psychology, and many other 'ologies', to tell you what you want, but no two of those books ever agree. And yet I think that you know very well without them what you want.

They have studied and written and speculated so much about this, for them so difficult a question, that you, the individual, have become entirely lost in their philosophies. And they have at last come to the conclusion that you, my friend, don't count at all. What's important, they say, is not you, but 'the whole', all the people together. This 'whole' they call 'society', 'the commonwealth', or 'the State', and the wiseacres have actually decided that it makes no difference if you, the individual, are miserable so long as 'society' is all right. Somehow they forget to explain how 'society' or 'the whole' can be all right if the single members of it are wretched.

So they go on spinning their philosophic webs and producing thick volumes to find out where you really enter in the scheme of things called life, and what you really want.

But you yourself know very well what you want, and so does your neighbor.

You want to be well and healthy; you want to be free, to serve no master, to crawl and humiliate yourself before no man; you want to have well-being for yourself, your family, and those near and dear to you. And not to be harassed and worried by the fear of to-morrow.

You may feel sure that every one else wants the same. So the whole matter seems to stand this way:

You want health, liberty, and well-being. Every one is like yourself in this respect.

Therefore we all seek the same thing in life.

Then why should we not all seek it together, by joint effort, helping each other in it?

Why should we cheat and rob, kill and murder each other, if we all seek the same thing? Aren't you entitled to the things you want as well as the next man?

Or is it that we can secure our health, liberty, and well-being better by fighting and slaughtering each other?

Or because there is no other way?

Let us look into this.

Does it not stand to reason that if we all want the same thing in life, if we have the same aim, then our interests must also be the same? In that case we should live like brothers, in peace and friendship; we should be good to each other, and help each other all we can.

But you know that it is not at all that way in life. You know that we do not live like brothers. You know that the world is full of strife and war, of misery, injustice, and wrong, of crime, poverty, and oppression.

Why is it that way then?

It is because, though we all have the same aim in life, our interests are different. It is this that makes all the trouble in the world.

Just think it over yourself.

Suppose you want to get a pair of shoes or a hat. You go into the store and you try to buy what you need as reasonably and cheaply as you can. That is your interest. But the store-keeper's interest is to sell it to you as dearly as he can, because then his profit will be greater. That is because everything in the life we live is built on making a profit, one way or another. We live in a system of profit-making.

Now, it is plain that if we have to make profits out of each other, then our interests cannot be the same. They must be different and often even opposed to each other.

In every country you will find people who live by making a profit out of others. Those who make the biggest profits are rich. Those who cannot make profits are poor. The only people who cannot make any profits are the workers. You can therefore understand that the interests of the workers cannot be the same as the interests of the other people. That is why you will find in every country several classes of people with entirely different interests.

Everywhere you will find:

(1) a comparatively small class of persons who make big profits and who are very rich, such as bankers, great manufacturers and land owners - people who have much capital and who are therefore called capitalists. These belong to the capitalist class;

(2) a class of more or less well-to-do people, consisting of business men and their agents, real estate men, speculators, and professional men, such as doctors, lawyers, inventors, and so on. This is the middle class or the bourgeoisie.

(3) great numbers of workingmen employed in various industries- in mills and mines, in factories and shops, in transport and on the land. This is the working class, also called the proletariat.

The bourgeoisie and the capitalists really belong to the same capitalistic class, because they have about the same interests, and therefore the people of the bourgeoisie also generally side with the capitalist class as against the working class.

You will find that the working class is always the poorest class, in every country. Maybe you yourself belong to the workers, to the proletariat. Then you know that your wages will never make you rich.

Why are the workers the poorest class? Surely they labor more than the other classes, and harder. Is it because the workers are not very important in the life of society? Perhaps we can even do without them?

Let us see. What do we need to live? We need food, clothing, and shelter; schools for our children; street cars and trains for travel, and a thousand and one other things.

Can you look about you and point out a single thing that was made without labor? Why, the shoes you stand in, and the streets you walk on, are the result of labor. Without labor there would be nothing but the bare earth, and human life would be entirely impossible.

So it means that labor has created everything we have - all the wealth of the world. It is all the product of labor applied to the earth and its natural resources.

But if all the wealth is the product of labor, then why does it not belong to labor? That is, to those who have worked with their hands or with their heads to create it - the manual worker and the brain worker.

Everybody agrees that a person has a right to own the thing that he himself has made.

But no one person has made or can make anything all by himself. It takes many men, of different trades and professions, to create something. The carpenter, for instance, cannot make a simple chair or bench all by himself; not even if he should cut down a tree and prepare the lumber himself. He needs a saw and a hammer, nails and tools, which he cannot make himself. And even if he should make these himself, he would first have to have the raw materials - steel and iron - which other men would have to supply.

Or take another example - let us say a civil engineer. He could do nothing without paper and pencil and measuring tools, and these things other people have to make for him. Not to mention that first he has to learn his profession and spend many years in study, while others enable him to live in the meantime. This applies to every human being in the world to- day.

You can see then that no person can by his own efforts alone make the things he needs to exist. In early times the primitive man who lived in a cave could hammer a hatchet out of stone or make himself a bow and arrow, and live by that. But those days are gone. To-day no man can live by his own work: he must be helped by the labor of others. Therefore all that we have, all wealth, is the product of the labor of many people, even of many generations. That is to say: all labor and the products of labor are social, made by society as a whole.

But if all the wealth we have is social, then it stands to reason that it should belong to society, to the people as a whole. How does it happen, then, that the wealth of the world is owned by some individuals and not by the people? Why does it not belong to those who have toiled to create it - the masses who work with hand or brain, the working class as a whole?

You know very well that it is the capitalistic class which owns the greatest part of the world's wealth. Must we therefore not conclude that the working people have lost the wealth they created, or that somehow it was taken away from them?

They did not lose it, for they never owned it. Then it must be that it was taken away from them.

This is beginning to look serious. Because if you say that the wealth they created has been taken away from the people who created it, then it means that it has been stolen from them, that they have been robbed, for surely no one has ever willingly consented to have his wealth taken away from him.

It is a terrible charge, but it is true. The wealth the workers have created, as a class, has indeed been stolen from them. And they are being robbed in the same way every day of their lives, even at this very moment. That is why one of the greatest thinkers, the French philosopher Proudhon, said that the possessions of the rich are stolen property.

You can readily understand how important it is that every honest man should know about this. And you may be sure that if the workers knew about it, they would not stand for it.

Let us see then how they are robbed and by whom."

Source:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Now_and_After:_The_ABC_of_Communist_Anarchism/Chapter_1

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 19 replies

Hypocrits

2010-08-28T07:34:34Z

So in light of a post from someone information has come to light of the type of dishonesty and hypocrisy endemic in the far right wing of the US political system.

So the libertarian party and the tea baggers do not believe the Government has any right to take "their hard earned money" and hand it to anyone else. They have no right to mandate that business do anything, this would include things like paying into Unemployment, paying into or providing health insurance. For that matter paying for schools and the like.

So isn't t absolutely hypocritical for those same folks to take advantage of the entitlements that have been so hard fought for by the left, you know those dirty nasty tax and spend liberals and rat bastard Socialists.

I don't know I was raised to live by my beliefs. Seems to me if these folks want this reality, it starts with living their life in accordance with their political beliefs, that means paying their own health care out of their own pocket even refusing health that their business provides for them once those laws go into effect, Never and I mean Never taking a dime of any entitlement program, they get fired layed off ect, well hell that's the market adjusting me right the hell out of it. Government health coverage for them when they are indigent or old, If they believed then they should take not a single dime and if they are dying they should not take advantage of the various laws those damn liberals have passed forcing the Hospital to take anyone regardless of ability to pay.

This is the reality they are asking for, they are demanding. Seems they should start living, or as the case may be dying in the atmosphere they dream of and are trying to foist on us.

While they are at it they can take a quick dip in the Gulf and see what unregulated and poorly regulated business get's ya.

JSin
Otherwise it is what I thought it was, A bunch of neo-hippys that want to get loaded and don't want to pay taxes themselves while enjoying all the benefits that othe's tax dollars provide.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 29 replies

Ecocide in America

2010-06-22T23:12:53Z

I'm using the prefix "eco" to mean both economics and ecology- because the way the current system is set up we can't separate one from the other- and the suffix "cide" to describe the systematic death of both.

Anyway, it recently occurred to me(not sure what took me so long) that our current economic system is not just absurd, abusive and based on a form of magical thinking far more destructive than the garden-variety versions of magical thinking we're accustomed too (religion, faith and even science based), but that it is in fact KILLING US and damn near EVERYTHING else in the process! We're trying to increase our GDP while effectively decreasing our planets ability to produce that which it needs to maintain life. As in all of LIFE, not just human life.

It's just common sense that any economic law ought to have a built in measure of preserving and protecting the integrity of the planet as a whole, otherwise there's nothing left to protect once we 'use' it all up. We, as a species, seem to have implemented this "use it or lose it" paradigm when in fact our USING it is causing us to LOSE it. But we're losing it for several species...animal, plant, bacteria, etc. all in an effort to supposedly improve the lot of our specific species. WTF? And what are we, the supposed ultimate species, to do when when we've effectively USED up every square acreage of naturally occurring- or, to put it another way, 'non-human interference occurring'- fossil fuels (for oil), rain forests (for medicinal and agro-business)), jungle (for medicinal products), wetlands (for housing), prairies (for agro-business and sub-divisions), deserts (salt, lithium-salt and other minerals for energy storage and food), swamps (housing and theme parks, apparently!), rivers (dumping grounds of industrial waste) bays and oceans (over-fishing and more dumping grounds for yet more waste), etc. You get the picture by now.

The BP Gulf Oil Spill , horrendous as it is for OUR PLANET and more immediately for those in the region, is not the fault of just one single entity. Though, admittedly it feels good to pass the buck. But the truth is that without consumer demand for fossil fuels there would be no drilling- whether offshore or deep. Then again, without realistic alternatives, even those of us that want desperately to be free of fossil fuel dependence are left with little to no option out.

The reason I'm posting this here in EH- as opposed to some 'Save the Earth' tribe- is because this isn't an ecology vs. economy issue, or a liberal vs. conservative, Republican vs. Liberal, wealthy vs. poor, city vs. rural or plain old good vs. bad conundrum. WE'RE ALL TO BLAME and all of the talk that politicians and economists and even environmentalists put forth aren't going to change this paradigm. "America", as an entity unto itself,(and the industrialized world as it is) isn't going to suddenly get 'back on track' economically or ecologically because the recession we're experiencing is more than financial. It's not a recession of productivity, but of OVER productivity. As long as we continue to perceive the human economy as the ONLY economy- and not take into consideration the planets economy- then we will continue on a path that not only extinguishes US, but damn near everything else in the process.

I'd like to propose the concept that, for those of you that give a fuck- and even those of you making a buck from our current ECOCIDE- that we stop seeking to live "off the grid" but rather seek ways to dismantle the beast altogether. Granted, I'm using the internet to convey this message and to be honest I don't know what industrialized/technological western society would be like without the ability to virtually communicate with damn near anyone at any time regardless of geographical location...but to the best of our ability it seems that providing for our immediate land bases and communities is a healthy direction.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 30 replies

We need to liberate women from the burqa

2010-06-08T05:15:57Z

Burqas oppress women so we should stop women from having the choice of wearing then in our enlightened and free western societies.

Sounds fucking stupid from me..

When they ban that from the streets - will they start on miniskirts because they degrade and sexualize woman ?

Should we ban the miniskirt ?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 32 replies

Liberation from Domestic Oppression..

2010-06-04T22:44:20Z

So I am the house cleaner, (mostly) cooker and the washer of dishes at home..

Last night.. when I had done about 95% of the dishes, the other person I share with walks up behind me and says "I could have done those".. I didn't say anything except "too late" but was scathingly thinking " 'I could have done those' - but you didn't! And you almost never do.. " thinking of how it is only I, the dish bitch, who has done them for the last month..

I was pissed off.. and thinking if I was in a relationship like this.. it would be a bit of a poison pill if I did not speak up.. then I was thinking about the sufferings of the stereotypical "home maker" who runs all over the place without much domestic help from their partner..

How damaging do you think this sort of thing is to friendships with housemates, and more importantly, romantic partners.

When was last time you, or your other half did the dishes - does it matter ?

(oh - and our general, but not set in stone arrangement - is the person who cooks does not do the dishes..)

posted in Extreme Honesty - 8 replies

The world is screwed..

2010-05-30T12:06:02Z

I was having dinner with a mate the other day and we were talking about stuff..

Out of the blue he said the world is screwed (okay.. he said fucked.. but I am trying to be internet nice :)

"Why do you think that?" say I.

He responds that he thinhs the world is f.. oh I mean screwed, because people are innately self destructive, sighting an example of someone I know. He then continued to offer me as an example "Look at you, smoking, that is something very self destructive"

And I look around and I see self destructiveness in so many people close to me.

Do you think the vast majority of people are self destructive ?

Are you ?

Is this the root of the worlds problems like my friend claims ?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 64 replies

"Will Pope Benedict become a Mormon after he dies?"

2010-05-05T20:29:04Z

I recently learned that the Mormon church performs a post-mortem baptism to people one year after their deaths.

This sounds pretty bizarre to me.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL0218416820070204

The article from Reuters also says that various popes have been "sealed" in marriage to women.

What the heck does that means?

Understandably, the various religious folks for, say the Catholic Church and the Jewish faith are nettled.

Can anyone here make sense of this stuff?

I am shaking my head thinking why people that believe this stuff think science fiction geeks are weird...

posted in Extreme Honesty - 3 replies

"But . .Surely YOU Support Boobquake!Right?"

2010-05-03T04:05:51Z

"I have nice boobs. Very, very nice boobs in fact. I also like to show my nice boobs and I like it when people look at them. Generally, my goal with showing my boobs is two-fold: 1) everyone in the world will fall madly in love with me and my boobs and 2) I will not look like an apple on sticks.

So surely this means I am whipping those sweater puppies out today for Boobquake right?

No. Boobquake bothers me. And not for the reasons many people think.

First, I hate empty protests. You can only raise awareness so much before you need to act. And raising awareness with people who are already aware is just preaching to the choir.

I had this argument with people about the “green screens for Iran” and the debate about calling for the arrest of the Pope. Talking about things all day long is great and can make you feel good and smart. But to accomplish anything in this world, you have to do work. And do you know why its called work? BECAUSE IT IS WORK!

Social justice movements are not fun. I wonder how fun it was for Rosa Parks to sit in the front of that bus, without even an iPod to block out the people screaming at her? I wonder if Malcolm X was just tempted to wear a t-shirt with a witty saying instead of standing up in front of people who wanted to kill him? Maybe Martin Luther King would have accomplished just as much with an Equality Ho Down in Alabama? Or maybe instead of collaborating with Theo Van Gogh on the film Submission (for which he was ultimately murdered) Ayan Hirsi Ali could have just gone to Cabo for Spring Break and convinced some of the Girls Gone Wild crew to help her write Koran verses on naked young white women? Not so powerful, is it?

Aside from the fact that it could be considered not only EXTREMELY culturally insensitive for American women to shove our freedom in the face of Iranian women, how many of the women who participated in Boobquake normally dress modestly? Based on comments, not many. Many of the women just seemed so excited to have a day to “show off the girls!”

And therein lies my second point. EVERY DAY should be a day when you feel comfortable expressing your sexuality and seeking sexual attention. Why has this event taken off like it did? Could it be that there is STILL shame in women expressing their sexuality? Of course there is!

But you don’t need a fake protest, catcalls from supportive men, alcohol, or the approval of your friends to be sexual. If you dress in a sexual manner, some people will think you are slutty. If you dress in a modest manner, some people will not give you the time of day. But the way we use Halloween, Girl’s Night Out, and now Boobquake as holidays in which “good girls” are given permission to be sexual pisses me off. You don’t NEED permission. You just need courage, and the willingness to take responsibility for your decisions. Part of that responsibility means being willing to give up the labels of good girls and bad girls, and just be.

Sexuality is a part of each of us, and people should feel comfortable expressing that in ways they find comfortable. Just don’t hide your need for sexual expression under the guise of the greater good. Because when you do so, you imply that sexual expression for its own sake is invalid. And to me, the greatest reason to be sexual is the pleasure of sexuality itself."

http://fatoneinthemiddle.com/2010/04/26/but-but-but-surely-you-support-boobquake-right/

posted in Extreme Honesty - 12 replies

To people reading along and wanting to join EH

2010-04-15T07:49:37Z

I've recently received quite a few requests to join EH. Since a pattern is emerging I figured I'd give you all a heads up.

EH is a moderated tribe because there has been a lot of history with nasty fights breaking out, abusive trolls coming in and a lot of harsh and mean words exchanged.

Because of this I have basically instituted a policy about letting people join. If I get a request to join the tribe from someone who is obviously active on tribe, has friends listed on their profile, has photos of themselves in their profiles and is not obviously disruptive in other tribes I will let them in immediately.

Profiles with no photos, no friends, no other tribe affiliations or ones that show a history of fighting with other tribe members are generally held a few days. If its a new person and the profile gets added to then I'll let you in. If its a new person and the profile seems already dead then I likely will not let them in. I tend to shy away from profiles that seem to contain no personal photos or writings. If you have a friend in EH and they drop me a note about how wonderful you are, I will let you in. Hope that clarifies things for current and future members.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 10 replies

You've got to be fucking kidding me

2010-03-29T08:00:49Z

From my blog....

You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Sun, July 1, 2007 - 10:16 AM
So shortly after posting the CUTEST photo of my brother taking a leak on a tree, l get a "Your photo's been removed" notice and it's been blocked from public view. Okay, don't get me wrong, but jesus christ, l don't want some perv drooling over his photo, but how would l know, and what the hell could said perv do about it? lf it's that bad, why aren't the bathtub photos of my brother gone? What if l had a two or three year old and wanted to post adorable naked baby photos? At what friggin point do we draw the line? l mean, l'm sure someone must have gotten offended or thought l was somehow exploiting my brother and complained. But really, if that's the case, screw you, whoever you are. Why can't l share what is a wholly innocent, but completely hilarious photo of my own flesh and blood, and exactly why does that somehow make it filthy or exploitative? Let's not forget the second photo of him whizzing on a tree that nobody bothered to delete - but to prevent said deletion, is now a friends only photo.

l'm sorry, but this fucking overly PC bullshit in this country is really, REALLY starting to get on my nerves. Don't want to offend anybody, nooooooo. They might keel over and die from stress. Good gawds.

Ali the Disgusted

Where DO we draw the line between harmless cutesy stuff and <gasp> exploitation and child pornography, oh my!? And at what point do we deny someone the right to post a photo of whoever because they find it adorably funny vs. perverted or somehow sick?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 257 replies

Help me with my homework (survey for my imaginary resturant)

2010-03-27T03:56:43Z

I need folks to answer the questions on this survey so I can use the data to complete a class. Please take the time to do this and repost it if you can to Facebook and the like. I need over 100 responses. Thank you very much.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GSJY9TL

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 9 replies

Not-so-random poll

2010-03-14T19:59:22Z

I'm working on a project about electric vehicles and thought it might be interesting to include a simple poll of various folks thoughts/ideas on the subject. Given that the folks here value honesty, I figured it might be a good place to start. Eventually, I'll have to hit the streets with these questions but getting my feet wet here feels a bit safer and more comfortable.

Okay, with that said, for those of you willing to participate please copy and paste the following questions with your own answers:

1-) How old are you?
2-) What is your biological gender?
3-) What region of this world do you currently live in?
4-) What is your political affiliation (if you don't feel comfortable answering this here, I understand...but it would be immensely helpful)
5-) What do you do to earn an income (and if you don't currently have an income, just give me some idea as to what you've done before, or what you hope to do in the future, or even just an idea of what interests you most even if its a non-income earning interest/hobby/lifestyle?
6-) Please list 5 adjectives- or any words- that come to mind when you think of electric vehicles. Please DON'T google or research EV's first. Just type whatever comes to your mind and don't worry whether it's accurate or informed.

Lastly, if you'd prefer to send me your answers in a pm, that's completely acceptable. I promise not to use your name or any other identifying factors in the event any of this information is included in my project. I just need some raw data on current perceptions of EV's to plug into a table that may or may not included in the finished product.

Thanks, and I hope that at least some of you will choose to participate.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 9 replies

Just got back from my second viewing of the Vagina Monologues- LIVE

2010-02-16T11:01:49Z

And wow! It just gets better and better each year.

Anyway, Eve Ensler asks all of her interviewees the following question, which I now pose to all of you here who have vaginas:

"If your vagina could speak, what would it say?"

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 7 replies

Being completely honest ...

2010-02-07T09:41:06Z

This has been one of the roughest weeks of my life, I have been extremely honest, and that part feels good, but I haven't been honest with my feelings in a long time so when I let out the honesty, its causing big waves. I need a hug and a should/arm massage - and that's extremely honest!

posted in Extreme Honesty - 14 replies

Oh ,how we DO delude ourselves.....

2010-01-19T16:21:27Z

the power of humanity to delude itself is nothing short of awe-inspiring. We , as aspecies, are capable of making ourselves beleive any damn thing we want, ANYTHING, no matter the evidence, no matter the in-your-face-facts, not even physical laws can slow our delusional capabilities. There are still flat earthers, ( Just, wow.) there are still people that believe that babies come from storks, ( ADULTS!!! IN THEIR 30S!!!!) there are people that can stare RIGHT AT the evidence of their own eyes and still deny its reality, evolution is still considered a THEORY ( how much fucking evidence do you people NEED?),all in all, humans are amazingly, proFOUNDLY stupid creatures. and honestly, getting dumber every day.
the frightening thing is, lol, our rampant stupidity is probably what got us to this evolutionary level, if we had any brains theres no freaking way, we would have taken on the challenges that faced us , against incredible odds, we kept going, kept struggling, kept fighting when any sensible creature would have given up the fight thousands of years ago.
We are simply too dumb to die.lol

posted in Extreme Honesty - 4 replies

So, about socialism vs capitalism vs etc, etc...

2010-01-17T07:55:26Z

The conversation on another thread brought up a question for me.

Clearly, there are countless forms of governmental systems which have been represented and endless variations on each of those governmental themes have evolved and will probably continue to evolve over the future course of history.

Recently, my step-daughter came home from middle school to announce that in her 8th grade class, she is learning that socialism is wrong. I asked her "Are you being taught what the different forms of government are or are you simply being taught that socialism is wrong?"

Her reply; "We're being taught that socialism is wrong and that it is a corrupt form of government."

Hmmm...corruption is doen't seem to be a market cornered by socialism, in my opinion.

Now, my question is - for a school system to be honest, should it be teaching value judgements about systems of government rather than simply teaching students there are many forms of government and what these forms are?

Personally, it seems to me that sending children into the world with pre-fabricated value judgements about the "wrongness" of the way other people do things tends to discourage a willingness to cooperate or understand our fellow humans sharing this planet.

What do you think?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 15 replies

Anger

2010-01-16T01:49:39Z

what to do in the face of injustice..?
how to come to terms with people who lack integrity?

in what way is it wrong to lose one's own composure in these situations - by yelling like (that is not to mean responding in kind btw) ~ is yelling considered wrong speech when it is done without deception or dishonesty?

how can these wrong things be overcome ~ by denying them any such value and detaching.. or by something more invasive (like 'dealing with the issue')

posted in Extreme Honesty - 21 replies

Giving back

2010-01-16T01:19:21Z

I was in Seattle for 3 weeks over the Holidays without my SO. She also lost her cat of 13 years over that time. In general for her it was not a great holiday season. That being said we decided that even though neither of us are real hot on valentines day we were going to do something special together. So there is this little highly acclaimed bistro here in Vegas called Table 34. Both of us have been dieing to go there.
http://www.usmenuguide.com/table34dinnermenu.html

Then the quake hit Haiti. perhaps it is our sensibilities but to go to a nice restaurant when an entire nation has been devastated seemed just wrong. What we are doing instead to donating the estimated cost of the bill to the Red Cross. i will still make something nice for dinner for her but the cash we would have spent on this meal will go to folks who don't even have places to squat.

Is anyone else doing something to help in light of this catastrophe?

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 20 replies

Free Masons

2010-01-15T21:34:42Z

My late father was a free-mason. Back in the 70's, before when he passed, the black members were separate from the whites. I don't know what they do now, but I remember his funeral was really frightening.

Does anyone know much about them? I have had a hard time getting info since they're so secretive and the 'History Channel'-if you can even really call it that- offers no insight when it posts specials.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 47 replies

put it to the test...

2009-12-11T15:02:48Z

so have you lied to your SO? about ANYTHING? to yourself? EVER? to your best friend? to the cops? to you mother in law? if you were deserving of a death sentance (according to the law), would you lie to preserve your life?

Just curious just how honest you people really are.

me personally, ill lie to preserve my life and the lives of my loved ones no sweat, not even a twitch from my conscience. Ill lie to anyone that chooses not to hear the truth. Ill keep my mouth shut and just let people believe whatever crap they want to if they wont listen. screw em,im more than happy to let them hang themselves with ALLLLLL the rope they need.

but thats just me, first and foremost i am honest with myself, and ill be honest with anyone that will listen, and treat me with respect, past that? fuck em.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 12 replies

this is honest

2009-11-19T05:10:27Z

Awake at 3 am and still awake at 4 am. That's honest.

This is the hardest thing I have ever been through and that's saying a lot. I have been through a lot.
And you know all of it. And it's like your testing me. You want to see what Ive got left. You want to see what kind of people we will become without each other. Well now you'll see.

I believed in real love. I believed we had it. Now it makes me sick.

You know you are a really selfish person sometimes. You have been that way for a long time. And I wonder what makes me so attracted to that and I really don't know. It's not attractive at all. You can be so smart and loving and articulate and you show yourself to the world in a certain way and then...BAM your just like other men...selfish and forgetful and unappreciative, snappy, unresponsive and .......... forgivable.

You tell me I'm your best friend - ??

We have been together 14 years almost. I have put up with your drunken crazy nights, your attraction to my friends, your career and interest changes, your emotional buildups/blowouts, your snappy moods, moving and moving, and having your baby, and being your wife, and building my whole life around your interests and your jobs and the loss of your jobs ...and trying to keep you sexually satisfied .... and it's never enough. You don't want to live with me any more and now I put up with this too.

Then you linger your way out of this house taking your things little by little and ...you end up moving into a place where I wanted to live with you but you wouldn't even look at it with me at the time. Now you live there with a stranger.

You take me out to dinner on night we are free of child and I think we are going to have fun and you break up with me in a crowded restaurant. You said that night you didn't love me any more. You said it after that too. You said you don't know why I don't believe you . Then as time goes on and you really start to move you start to feel it. You start to say you never said you didn't love me... I start to see you are feeling and you suddenly are not sure. confused. you don't know what you want but you can't live with me. But I'm your best friend. But you don't know. Well what is it?

I don't know what to think. You want to know my boundaries but in all the confusion I don't even know what they are. I have bent in all directions to make this work. I'm not sure I want to open up and keep trying to make this work if It's going to waste my time being more hurt. Ive delt with enough hurt in my life and I thought I was done being hurt and then you want a divorce and what am I suppose to do with that load of drama? Nothing to do but feel it. sometimes I feel it and sometimes I'm so numb.

So I get two jobs to support myself I live in a converted garage that we ended up in because you lost you good job and now I'm only here because it's the best thing I can afford to keep a roof over mine and my kids head with out moving in with parents. I have a car that I have no idea how long it will last and I work my ass off to send my kid to a good school and keep food on the table. I really get very little respect for how hard I work. You have no idea what it's like.

As you sleep in your new bed with your new sheets and all your new freedom

posted in Extreme Honesty - 7 replies

Deleting threads

2009-11-19T04:48:45Z

Its a long standing policy here that deleting threads that have been commented in by others is not cool. If you post a thread you may delete it before someone responds. After there are responses deleting a thread including work by others will resulted in your removal from the tribe.

Rona since you might not have been aware of this I'll let it slide, but stop deleting threads you start.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 20 replies

Self Ownership

2009-09-30T08:19:52Z

Very good flash animation introducing the concept of self ownership and liberty
http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 2 replies

Police Brutality is systemic and pervasive

2009-08-24T19:33:12Z

For those that still doubt that abuses by the cops is the norm not the exception read over some of the topics and articals on this site:
http://www.policecrime.com/

Since tazers were a hot topic as well you might read some of the forum posts there under:
http://www.policecrime.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 21 replies

My eyes actually teared

2009-08-19T13:28:11Z

I have known Eric for almost 6 months. Until last week I did not know he was the chef on the Alaska Ranger

To me this is a lesson on both heroism and humility. When I asked him tonight why he did it, why he never told me, his response was you do what you have to do.

I have never before had a hero in my life. Today Eric Haynes is my hero. I am blessed to be a part of his life.

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 5 replies

Police aren't the real problem, the citizens are.

2009-08-18T23:35:08Z

Since the Gates incident I have read and participated in several discussions about police and police behavior and abuse of power etc.... and what has made the biggest impression on me is how many people seem to feel comfortable with the notion that we should always just keep our heads down and never question the police and their actions because they have tough jobs and because they have authority. Even in that youtube video of the naked guy getting tazered there are tons of comments where people express the opinion that he deserved what he got because he was a stupid naked hippy. Never mind that his crime was simply being drunk and naked at a music festival.
I don't know if it is a majority or just a vocal majority but there are a lot of people out there who seem to feel that mouthing off to the police is reason enough to be arrested and/or abused by the police. In the end so many corrupt officers get away with doing what they do because so much of the public feels they should have unconditional support, that we have no right to ask questions when confronted by them and that we shouldn't second guess them because they have tough jobs. People feel comfortable with the notion that as good citizens we should give up our rights in the presence of a police officer. So my question is what can we do about the public's perception and expectation of what is acceptable? Can something be done? Because if that doesn't change I don't see how the system will.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 38 replies

Interesting Stats not reported by mainstream media

2009-08-16T13:50:37Z

Our media has a vested interest in what we hear even when it applies to what as a society believe. Came across this interesting set of poll results. These are not from a single polling group but rather stuff that was un reported:
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/21988

*Twice as many Americans back more government services and spending (even if this means a tax increase) as the number who support fewer services and reduced spending (National Elections Survey, 2004).

*64 percent of Americans would pay higher taxes to guarantee health care for all U.S. citizens (CNN Opinion Research Poll, May 2007).

*69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to provide health coverage to all U.S. citizens (Gallup Poll, 2006).

*80 percent of Americans support a government-mandated increase in the minimum wage (Associated Press/AOL Poll, December 2006).

*71 percent of Americans think that taxes on corporations are too low ( Gallup Poll, April 2007).

*66 percent of Americans think taxes on upper-income people are too low(Gallup Poll, April 2007).

*59 percent of Americans are favorable toward unions, with just 29 percent unfavorable ( Gallup Poll, 2006).

*52 percent of Americans generally side with unions in labor disputes. Just 34 percent side with management (Gallup Poll, 2006).

*A majority of American voters think that the United States' "most urgent moral question" is either greed and materialism" (33 percent) or "poverty and economic injustice" (31 percent). Just 16 percent identify abortion and 12 percent pick gay marriage as the nation's "most urgent moral question" (Zogby, 2004). Thus, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the population think that injustice and inequality are the nation's leading "moral issues."

*Just 15 percent of Americans think the U.S. should play "the leading role in the world" (Gallup Poll. February 2007)- a remarkable rejection of U.S. global hegemony and empire.

*Just 29 percent of Americans support the expansion of government spending on "defense." By contrast, 79 percent support increased spending on health care, 69 percent support increased spending on education, and 69 percent support increased spending on Social Security (Chicago Council on Foreign Relations [hereafter "CCFR"}, "Global Views,"2004).

*77 percent of Americans think the U.S. has the unilateral right to go to war only if the U.S. has strong evidence it is in imminent danger of being attacked (53 percent) or (24 percent)if the other country attacks first (CCFR, 2004).

*Two thirds (66 percent) of Americans think the US should be more willing to make international relations decisions within the UN even if this means the U.S. will sometimes have to go along with a policy that is not its first choice (CCFR, 2004).

*Fifty-nine percent of Americans favor dropping the veto power granted to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, including the United States (CCFR, 2004).

* Just barely more than half of all Americans (and only one third of all Americans 18 to 29 years old) are sure that "capitalism is better than socialism" when it comes to how organize economic life (Rasmussen Reports, 2009).[2]

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 0 replies

In Oregon you can cite pigs for violations

2009-08-15T16:38:10Z

Contact your DA locally there may be provisions to use what is referred to as a citizens citation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGQiq5Ay5io&feature=related

Looking on the internet I am finding little to back this but my guess is a form could be created and used to cite the pigs when they violate the law. i would start with parking and begin hitting the District attorneys office with cites locally

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 77 replies

The Power of Nightmares

2009-08-15T01:58:01Z

This a great BBC documentary about the twin rise of Islamic Fundamentalism and the Neo-Cons that traces it back to the roots. It's not new so some of you may have already seen it but since it deals - honestly - with some of the lies that are being sold to people around the world, it seemed like it might be a good fit here. It's also got great interviews with key political players talking about their roles and beliefs.

http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

It's less about exposing conspiracies and more about the general stupidity of humans and how we buy into our own lies...and the culture of fear that has been consciously cultivated around the world.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 3 replies

Wisdom

2009-08-14T12:56:23Z

Perhaps this is the essence of what we need. First stumbled upon the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7DofEVlIdY
Then checked out the IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1409841/

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 1 reply

communication style

2009-08-14T11:56:20Z

while being interviewed today I was asked what my communication style was (ex. non-violent, silent smolderer, one who takes up too much space, direct,....) I did not have an immediate answer because i was trying to impress these people and i have doubts that the way i communicate with people is the the most functional, but also i feel a little unaware of how indeed i do communicate.

Becoming a functional and clear communicator is something i have longed for in my tool kit but i have never really focused myself to learn such a task.

i am interested in consciously bringing in beauty and aesthetic into how i communicate with others.

i am interested in hearing from others who have taught themselves and/or how you brought more consciousness into relating with others.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 5 replies

The power of dreams

2009-08-12T03:04:05Z

And by "dreams" I mean the good ol fashioned kind that occur when you're deep in sleep...not the consciously manufactured version that give you reason to wake up and get through each day.

Anyway, ever have a dream that was just so *real* that when you woke up you felt disjointed and not fully aware of your current, waking life circumstances? Could be a good dream that was just so good you really didn't want to wake up...could be a bad one or even a nightmare that you were grateful to be free of, but still somehow unsure of the boundaries between conscious and sub-conscious realities.

I dream vividly. I nearly always remember at least one dream when I awake each morning. I love this about my brain and am thankful for it. But once in a while I have a dream that just truly touches upon something- etches grooves throughout my psyche- that effects me for the entire day after...or longer. I had one of those dreams last night. It seemed epic- as if the dream WAS my life and didn't just take up a few hours of my sub-conscious mind. When I woke up I was almost startled. I wanted to go back into it. I tried to fall asleep again, but my brain and body generally won't let me sleep past 6:00 am no matter what might or might not be happening that would require me to be awake at that hour. It's now 1:40pm and my entire day so far has been colored by this bizarre, but oh-so-real dream.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 7 replies

Change

2009-08-02T13:40:35Z

In recent events and hardships within our own nation and around the world, more than one world leader or public voice has spoken out on need for change. Many will disagree on whether dramatic changes are even possible. What changes do you perceive as necessary to see a difference in our world and how could the ordinary citizen like you and me start the ball rolling?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 103 replies

Freedom of Speech

2009-07-24T21:24:02Z

Possibly out greatest freedom. But Can it be abused or misused? What do you think?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 1 reply

The Concept of Interdependence

2009-07-22T02:02:12Z

Dependence - The reliance of others for physical, mental or emotional needs.

Independence- The ability to be self relaiant for physical, mental or emotional needs. Needing no one but oneself.

Interdependence- Having the confidence and self esteem to know that one is self reliant yet using the wisdom that working with others is the most advantagous way to achieve more for everyone.

-A thought from Steven Covey's 7 Useful Habits of Highly Effective People.-

Do you agree with these concepts and where do you feel you would be on this ladder?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 5 replies

Do you believe in God?

2009-07-20T19:14:25Z

I, myself, lean toward the Agnostic side of things. I would be an Athiest, but I keep finding myself wondering what was the force that pushed the first domino. It is difficult for my little human reasoning to grasp nothing begat nothing.

I have studied multiple religions from Presbyterian, to Ekankar, to 9 months of catechism in the Catholic faith, to Wicca, and many little studies in between of various sects and beliefs. I still can't come to the conclusion that there is a God, or a Jesus, or an anyone/ thing/ force here for me. Well, maybe a force, there are times where I feel in complete connection with the universe, and I feel big and small at the same time.

I believe in science (a little Nacho Libre referrence for ya.) How do ya'll feel?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 39 replies

Ethical quandry

2009-07-20T01:56:18Z

Ok so going through a bunch of posted information one of my instructors provided I found a guide that has his by line and claim of authorship on.

Upon doing some unrelated research I came across the original posted on a culinary website. It was not by him. Rather it was written by another respected chef and was more complete than the posted information.

Personally I find plagiarism ethically reprehensible.

Now it gets even more complicated. He is the only ACF certified tester in the Las Vegas area. He hold several certifications with the ACF as well. When I go to get my ACF cert I will have to be evaluated by him unless I want to travel to another state for the evaluation.

So what is a guy to do... Let the flagrant unethical and academically dishonest act pass, or do I report it to the school, should I contact the original author with a copy of what he has put up. Should I possibly contact the ACF and start the ball rolling for stripping him of his credentials.

Most of you know from my postings it is not in may nature to allow this sort of thing to just slide but I do not need my grades and future harmed in trying to do the right thing.

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 9 replies

dot dot dot

2009-07-17T18:52:30Z

So what's up with the proliferation of people calling themselves . other than ./350ppm/!Alex!?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 2 replies

gods path for us?

2009-07-17T05:47:42Z

My beleif is contrary to popular theological perception the ability to bring "paradise" on earth is completely in our own hands. That we were all created by god with the gifts to do so. The choice to carve our own destines and live in virtual perfection or the opposite has always been in our hands we just continuously choose the opposite. Sadly most contain themselves within limitations when the truth is we were created to be limitless. If mankind were to focus on the similarites of our cultures and beleifs rather than the differences how easy would it be to realize our common goals, yearnings, desires and needs? How much richer would we be individually to know that every limitation and shackle that could be put on us is all a frame of mind and that the ability to overcome any obstacle and atain any dream is inherently created within us? We should all stop waiting to be saved by god, a messiah, some incredible leader and realize that god would be proud as any father would to see his sons and daughters pick themselves up and make their own way.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 51 replies

Taking Extreme Honesty to Invasion of Privacy on thejob

2009-07-12T21:26:56Z

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=10558291

With more than 3,000 applicants and only 160 available jobs, the City of Bozeman (my home) has decided to narrow it's focus by asking applicants to divulge their membership with networking sites, INCLUDING their passwords!!!

"At the heart of the uproar is a requirement included on a waiver statement applicants must sign, giving the City permission to conduct an investigation into the person's "background, references, character, past employment, education, credit history, criminal or police records."

Those that don't comply won't be considered.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 14 replies

A money question...

2009-07-09T22:43:00Z

Here's the scenario:
About six months ago, I let a friend borrow around $2000 in which payments for repay were to be made. Now, keep in mind this is a friend, somebody I feel isn't a bad person and want to keep being their friend. No contract (other than verbal) was made. My friend began making payments but then ran into some issues. He works and goes to school but barely makes enough to live off of. He has recently moved to a smaller place to simplify his living arrangement and expenses. Which I know is a good thing and will improve the situation but does nothing for right now.

The problem:
I'm in a situation where I need the debt to be repaid. If not all of it, as much as my friend can pay. I make rather decent money. Enough to live well with some extras. But I also moved, which ate up any kind of savings I had. Now, in completely honesty, I'm a rather frivolous spender myself. Meaning, although I usually get my bills taken care of, I'm apt to spend what's left on...well...stuff. Nothing extravagant. Usually dining out or if I'm on a business trip, I'll spend money on tours or nights out. Things like that. If I didn't spend so frivolously, I'm sure that the money wouldn't be much of a problem. But I do and it has become a problem.

Solution needed:
So while I'm pressured to try to collect what is due forcefully, I'm also at a point where this is a friend and the reason why I'm so broke right now is because I need to check my spending habits. Am I wrong for pressuring my friend, who is obviously in a tough situation already (but getting better with time)? Or should I blame myself for being so bad with my own money?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 14 replies

Enlightenment

2009-07-08T08:42:03Z

Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude!1 “Have courage to use your own understanding!” — that is the motto of enlightenment.

Immanuel Kant

After reading a number of posts from a few people I have come to the realization that there are some very serious leaders and a lot of sheeple around. I came across this while reading and felt that it is a pretty clear statement concerning not the eastern concept of enlightenment but rather a western view of it. What do ya think.

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 32 replies

Describe yourself without using...

2009-06-25T22:41:20Z

...any of the usual adjectives you employ upon meeting someone for the first time.

This was an exercise we did during my Improv for the Spirit workshop last month. It was pretty bizarre. The first step is to write down all of the things you normally say when being introduced. I just wrote an "I am" at the top of the page and then listed all of the things I, or others, might offer as an explanation for my existence.
I am: a single mother; a chef; a student; a daughter...etc

Then begin a new "I am" list without using any of those terms. WOW! I found it pretty challenging myself. A few others seemed to have an easier time with it, and still others that couldn't seem to come up with anything remotely positive. Anyway, the reason I am posting this NOW, a full month later, is because it's one of the few things that keeps coming back to me IRL. It's been incredibly cathartic and freeing to intentionally avoid all of those "So, what do YOU do?" convo's and steer it into inquiries about some other person's self-perceived nature, or personality or abilities and talents. It's also made for some really amazing conversations.

*just a small disclaimer: this doesn't seem to have much of an effect on folks in the insurance or auto industries for some reason.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 14 replies

Patents and trademarks

2009-06-25T20:53:23Z

I know it seems strange to ask this here in E.H., but we have so many knowledgeable members that I thought I'd give it a shot. Anyway, is anyone here familiar with how to patent/trademark an idea/invention? I looked up my idea on the U.S. Patent and Trademark website and it appears that no one else has come up with it yet, but sifting through all of the various steps and procedures was exhausting and not particularly helpful. Is there any easy way to just protect my idea until I can make a prototype and jump through all of the necessary hoops for trademarking? I'm pretty broke, so a patent lawyer is out of my ability.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 3 replies

Universal Medical Coverage

2009-06-23T19:38:24Z

In my opinion this is the key to fixing much of the US economy. I can't beleive that people who aren't involved in the insurance industry directly aren't down with single payer as, at least, an option.

I knwo we have lots of Canuuks in here so please feel free to share your feelings about the Canadien system that is so often maligned in the US mainstream media and which seems so damn sensible and good to me.

Fellow Americans weigh in and what you'd like to see happen and how you think we can get there.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 9 replies

Reel Bad Arabs

2009-06-19T23:14:40Z

Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (ISBN 1-56656-388-7, Olive Branch Press) is a 2001 book by Jack Shaheen where he surveyed more than 900 film appearances of Arab characters. Of those, only a dozen were positive and 50 were balanced. Shaheen writes "Seen through Hollywood's distorted lenses, Arabs look different and threatening."

Jack G. Shaheen (born 1935) is Professor Emeritus of Mass Communication at Southern Illinois University.

I have not read the book, but did see a television interview of him on this.

It was very interesting on the stereotyping and thematic tool of the "evil Arab" in Hollywood.

It was especially interesting to realise Disney's use, particularly given their audience, of the myth in movies like Aladdin and seeing short extracts from so many movies really made me realise how frequent and powerful the recurring image is and I think he is right in describing this as vilification.

JACK SHAHEEN: So there is this cloud with the hate crimes, with the profiling, with being rounded up. Again, I think this illustrates the power of film. That in spite of the reality, in spite of the material that we know to be true, we still embrace the mythology. The mythology is still a part of our psyches. Stereotypes take a long time to wither away. And for many of us, we’re comfortable with our prejudices. We don’t want to change. We’ve grown accustomed to this face.

JACK SHAHEEN: The stereotype has become so widespread that it’s become invisible to people, and the reason being is that we’ve all grown up with these images. Just look at television. We now have TV shows telling us that, in addition to the Arab terrorists over there, American Arabs over here are also terrorists. Then there’s Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell.” Here a sinister network of Islamic groups operates on American street corners. Any homeless man could be part of this network. Even Western looking Arabs are part of this anti-American conspiracy.

IMDB says
This groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged form the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists"--along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today. Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and international policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture

The full 50 minutes of the show http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-223210418534585840 I recommend watching it.

Quotes obtained from "Transcript" at http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=412 (with short extracts from the film)
IMDB says http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948465/plotsummary
The post 1980 movies he sights as worst offenders http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel_Bad_Arabs

Would you say you have an awareness of this vilification ?

For me, I would have to admit I was desensitized to this.. In extreme honesty I would have to put my hand up to "The stereotype has become so widespread that it’s become invisible to people, and the reason being is that we’ve all grown up with these images. "

Worth thinking about..

posted in Extreme Honesty - 6 replies

What's so natural about this "natural" personal chef/celebrity?

2009-06-16T05:57:00Z

I just don't get it. I've been busting my ass for years trying to make a niche for my little personal cheffing biz, using locally grown and pesticide-free foods and while I've received a fair amount of press and attention, I am nowhere NEAR the level of popularity that this young woman has achieved.
http://www.bethenny.com/
and then this:
http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com/2009/03/13/bethenny-frankel-has-some-ugly-breast-implants/

Of course, being a so called "housewife" on one of those ridiculous Real (haha) Housewives of wherever the fuck they are hasn't exactly hurt her career. But here's what I wanna know. Is there some way I can reach even a modicum of this type of notoriety WITHOUT completely compromising (or murdering) my principles and commitment to a truly natural lifestyle? C'mon people. Would I really have to market myself as a "Skinny Girl" -that's her new line of products, recipes and books- or convert my homegrown mammary's into unusable flotation devices upon which to one day rest my sagging chin skin?

*urgh*

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 11 replies

Stop Having Children<A Tax proposal>

2009-06-11T07:45:19Z

http://www.amateurbrainsurgery.com/stop-having-babies-to-save-the-planet/134/

Interesting article and a potentially valid concept... Rather than futzing with carbon credits ect perhaps a better solution would be massive tax credits for people that avoid having children. This could be further bolstered by programs for grants and further credits for pepole that opt for voluntary sterilization.

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 45 replies

A different view of the world ?

2009-06-08T18:42:59Z

Sorry this is so long.

A good friend of mine was an Infantry Battalion Commander in the Vietnam War, He often hoids different views of the world than mine. Reading the below, I wondered what he would think of it. Then I wondered what reaction you guys might have....

Claim: Vietnam veteran Brian Shul delivered a patriotic speech in Chico,
California, in 2001.

Status: True.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003]

Speech by Brian Shul in Chico California in the Fall of 2001

Brian Shul is a Vietnam era USAF fighter pilot with 212 combat
missions. He was shot down near the end of the war and was so badly
burned that he was given next to no chance to live. He did live,
went on to fly SR-71s and completed a 20 year career in the Air
Force. Has written four books on aviation and runs a photo studio.
This is a speech he made in Chico California in the aftermath of the
September 11th attack on the U.S.

Thank you for the opportunity to address this rally today. It is not
often that a fighter pilot is asked to be the keynote speaker. There
is a rumor that they are unable to put two sentences together
coherently. I'd like to dispel that rumor today by saying that I can
do that, and in fact that I have written several books. I always
wanted to be an author, and I ARE one now.

I'm a pretty lucky person really. I'm like the little boy who tells
his father that when he grows up he wants to be a jet pilot, and his
father replies, "Sorry son, you can't do both". I made that choice a
long time ago and flew the jets. I was fortunate to live my dream,
and then some. I survived something I shouldn't have, and today,
tell people that I am 28 years old, as it has been that long since I
was released from the hospital. It was like I received a second
life, and in the past 28 years, I have gotten to see and do much, so
much that I would not have thought possible. Returning to fly jets
in the Air Force, flying the SR-71 on spy missions, spending a year
with the Blue Angels, running my own photo studio.... and so much
more. And now, seeing our country attacked in such a heinous way.

Some of you here today have heard me speak before, and know that I
enjoy sharing my aviation slide show. I have brought no slides to
show you, as I feel compelled today, to address different issues
concerning this very difficult time in our nation's history.

I stand before you today, not as some famous person, or war hero. I
am far from that. You know, they say a good landing is one you can
walk away from, and a really great one is when you can use the
airplane again. Well, I did neither...and I speak to you to today as
simply a fellow American citizen.

Like you, I was horrified at the events of September 11th. But I was
not totally surprised that such a thing could happen, or that there
were people in the world who would perpetrate such deeds, willingly,
against us. Having sat through many classified briefings while in
the Air Force, I was all too l aware of the threat, and I can assure
you, it has always been there in one form or another. And those of
you who have served in the defense of this nation, know all too well
the response that is needed. In every fighter squadron I was in,
there was a saying that we knew to be true, that said, when there
was a true enemy, you negotiate with that enemy with your knee in
his chest and your knife at his throat.

Many people are unfamiliar with this way of thinking, and shrink
from its ramifications. War is such a messy business, and there are
many who want no part of it, but rush to bask in the security
blanket of its victory.

I spent an entire military career fighting Communism, and was very
proud to do so. We won that war, we beat one of the worst scourges
to humankind the world has known. But it took a great effort, over
many years of sustained vigilance and much sacrifice by so many
whose names you will never know. And perhaps our nation, so weary
from so long a cold war, relaxed too much and felt the world was a
safer place with the demise of the Soviet Union. We indulged
ourselves in our own lives, and gave little thought to the threats
to our national
security.

You know, normally my talks are laced with numerous jokes as I share
my stories, but I have very few jokes to tell this afternoon. These
murdering fanatics came into our land, lived amongst our people,
flew on our planes, crashed them into our buildings, and killed
thousands of our citizens. And nowhere along their gruesome path
were they questioned or stopped. The joke is on us. We allowed this
country to become soft.

We shouldn't really be too surprised that this could happen. Did we
really think that we could keep electing officials who put self
above nation and this would make us stronger? Did we really think
that a strong economy adequately replaced a strong intelligence
community? Did we imagine that a President who practically gave away
the store on his watch, was insuring national security? While our
country was mired in the wasted excess of a White House sex scandal,
the drums of war beat loudly in foreign lands, and we were deaf. Our
response was to give the man two terms in office, and even then
barely half the American public exercised their right to vote. We
have only ourselves to blame. Our elected officials are merely a
reflection of our own values and what we deem important.

Did we not realize that America had become a laughing stock around
the world? We had lost credibility, even amongst our allies. To our
enemies we had no resolve. We made a lot of money, watched a lot of
TV, and understood little about what was happening beyond our
shores. We were, simply, an easy target.

But we are a country awakened now. We have been attacked in our
homeland. We have now felt the reality of what an unstable and
dangerous world it truly is. And still, in the face of this
unprecedented carnage in our most prominent city, there are those
who choose to take this opportunity to protest, and even burn the
flag.

If I were the regents or alumni of certain large universities in
this county, I would be embarrassed to be producing students of such
ignorance and naïve notions. Like mindless sheep, they march with
painted faces and trite sayings on signs, blissfully ignorant of the
world they live in, and the system that protects them, hoping maybe
to make the evening news. Perhaps if they had spent more time in
class they would have learned that those who forget the past are
condemned to repeat it. They might have learned that all it takes
for evil to succeed in the world, is for good people to stand by and
do nothing. If they had simply gone back in history as recently as
the Viet Nam War, they would have learned that an enemy that knows
it can never defeat us militarily, will persist as long as there is
dissention and disruption in our land. Their ignorance can be
understood, as their young empty minds have been filled with the
re-written history tripe that tenured leftist professors can spew
out with no fear of removal. But the unwitting aid they provide the
enemy, in disrupting the national resolve, is unforgivable. I think
this is wonderful country, though, that gives everyone their voice
of dissention. I am all for people expressing their views publicly
because it makes it much easier for us to identify the truly
foolish, and to know who cannot be counted on in times of crisis.
These are the weak and cowardly who, when the enemy is crashing
through the front door, will cower in the back room, counting on
better men than themselves to make and keep them free. Well, the
enemy is at our front door, and isn't it interesting those who cry
loudest and most often for their rights, are usually those least
willing to defend it.

I heard a student on TV the other day say that this war just wasn't
in his plans and he would simply head to Canada if a draft occurred.
Just wasn't in his plans. I wonder what plans the young men at the
beaches of Normandy had that they never got to live. I wonder if it
was in the plans of 19-year-old boys in Viet Nam to lie dying in a
jungle far from home. I guess the men and women at Pearl Harbor one
morning had their plans slightly rearranged too. Gee, I hope we
haven't inconvenienced this student. Those people in the World Trade
Center have no more plans. It is up to us to have a plan now. And it
isn't going to be easy. Who ever said it would? Just what part of
our history spoke of how easy it was to form a free nation? It has
never been easy and has always required vigilance and sacrifice, and
sometimes war, to preserved this union. If it were easy, everyone
would have done it. But no one else has, and we stand alone as the
most unique country on earth.

And isn't it amazing that we have spent a generation stamping God
out of our schools and government, and now as a nation, have
collectively turned to God in memorial services, prayer vigils and
churches around this country.

I am also very disturbed to hear that there are people in this
country, at this particular time, who feel it inappropriate to wear
the flag on their lapel because they are on the news or in a public
job, and school officials who want to remove pro-American stickers
so as not to offend foreign students. Well I am offended that these
people call themselves Americans. I am offended that innocent people
were killed in a mass attack of unthinkable proportions. And I am
offended at listening to TV broadcasters speak to me
condescendingly, with a bias that screams of their drowning in a
cesspool of political correctness. I pity the person who thinks they
are going to remove this flag from my lapel.

This flag of ours is the symbol of all that is good about this
country. America is an idea. It is an idea lived, and fought for, by
a people. We are America, and this is our symbol. We are imperfect
in many ways, but we continue to strive toward the ideal our
forefathers laid down for us over 225 years ago. I could never
imagine desecrating that symbol. Perhaps there are many people in
this nation who have never been abroad, or in harms way, and seen
the flag upon their return. Those poor souls can never know the deep
pride and honor one feels to see it wave, to know that there is
still a good ol' USA. With all our warts we are still the greatest
nation on earth, and the flag is the most powerful symbol of that
greatness. When I was in grade school, we used to say the Pledge of
Allegiance every morning. It is something I never forgot. I wonder
how many children even know that pledge today.

This flag is our history, our dreams, our accomplishments, indelibly
expressed in bright red, white, and blue. This flag was carried in
our Revolutionary War, although it had many less stars. But it
persevered and evolved throughout a war we had no right to believe
we could win. But we did, and built a country around it. This flag,
tattered and battle worn, waved proudly from the mast, as John Paul
Jones showed the enemy what true resolve was. This banner was raised
by the hands of brave men on a godforsaken island called Iwo Jima,
and became a part of the most famous photo of the 20th Century.
Those men are all dead now, but their legacy lives on in the Marine
Memorial in Washington, DC. Those of you who have seen it will
recall that inscribed within the stone monument are the words — When
Uncommon Valor, Was A Common Virtue — I don't believe you'll see the
words, "it was easy", anywhere on it. This flag has even been to the
moon, planted there for all time by men with a vision, and the
courage to see it through.

I personally know what it is to see the flag, and feel something
deep inside that makes you feel you are a part of something much
bigger than yourself. Laying in a hospital bed, I can vividly recall
looking out the only window in the room and on Sundays, seeing that
big garrison flag flying proudly in the breeze. It filled the entire
window, and filled my heart with a motivation that helped me leave
that bed, and enabled me to be standing here today. And many years
later, while fighting another terrorist over Libya, my backseater
and I outraced Khaddafi's missiles in our SR-71 as we headed for the
Mediterranean, and I can still clearly see that American flag patch
on the shoulder of my space suit, staring at me in the rear view
mirror as we headed west, and it was a good feeling. Now don't ask
me why we had rear view mirrors in the world's fastest jet. I can
assure you, no one was gaining on us that day.

I am so happy to see so many flags out here today. Long may it wave.

History will judge us. How we confront this chapter of American
history will be important for the future of this great nation. This
will be a war like none other we have endured. The combatants will
not just be the soldier on the battlefront, but will be fought by
us, the citizens. We are on the battlefield now; the war has been
brought to us. We will determine the outcome of this war by how well
we remain vigilant, how patient we are with tightened security, how
well we support the economy, and most importantly, in the resolve we
show the enemy. There are some things worth fighting for, and this
country is one of them.

I pray for our leaders at this time. In the Pacific, during WW II,
Admiral Bull Halsey said, "There are no great men, just great
circumstances, and how they handle those circumstances will
determine the outcome of history". Our future and the future of
coming generations are in our hands. Wars are not won just on
military fronts, but by the resolve of the people. We must remain
tenaciously strong in the pursuit of this enemy that threatens free
people everywhere.

I am encouraged that we will win this war. Even before the first
shot was finished being fired, there were brave Americans on Flight
93, fighting back. These people were the first true heroes of this
conflict, and gave their lives to save their fellow countrymen.

This nation, this melting pot of humanity, this free republic, must
be preserved. This idea that is America is important enough to be
defended. Fought for. Even die for. The enemy fears what you have,
for if their people ever become liberated into a free society,
tyrannical dictatorships will cease and he will lose power.

How can they ever understand this country of ours, so self-indulgent
and diverse, yet when attacked, so united in the defense of its
principals. This is the greatest country in the world because brave
people sacrificed to make it that way. We are a collective mix of
greatness and greed, hi-tech and heartland. We are the country of
Mickey Mouse and Mickey Mantle; from John Smith and Pocahontas to
John Glenn and an Atlas booster; from Charles Lindbergh to Charley
Brown; from Moby Dick to Microsoft; we are a nation that went from
Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base in less than 70 years; we are rock
and roll, and the Bill of Rights; we are where everyone else wants
to be, the greatest nation in the world.

The enemy does not understand the dichotomy of our society, but they
should understand this; we will bandage our wounds, we will bury our
dead; and then we will come for you . . . and we will destroy you
and all you stand for.

I read this quote recently and would like to share it with you:

We are pressed on every side, but not crushed,
Perplexed, but not in despair,
Persecuted, but not abandoned,
Struck down, but not destroyed.

That is from II Corinthians. Not too long ago it would have been
politically incorrect to quote from the Bible. I am so happy to be
politically INCORRECT. And I am so proud to be an American.

Thank you all for coming out today and showing your support for your
government, and your nation. You are the true patriots, you are the
soldiers of this war, you are the strength of America.

Source http://www.snopes.com/rumors/shul.asp

~

What do you think ?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 26 replies

A little help here?

2009-06-01T22:30:22Z

So, my 7 y/o son came to me a few weeks ago asking what the difference was between vampires and zombies. I did my best to explain. Vampires bite one of your major arteries and suck out your blood and may or may not choose to make you one of them. Zombies, on the other hand, bite you anywhere they can in order to render you helpless while they suck out your brain and neither you nor they have any control over whether you become one of them. In the end, the recipients are both dead...or, undead.

He seemed content with this explanation.

But then my 7 y/o daughter (twins) came to me just last week asking about the differences between the "Swine Flu" and the "Mexican Flu". She asked, "Can pigs make me sick?" I tried to give her both the long and short answer. I said, "Pigs can only make you sick if you don't cook them long enough. They need to reach at least 160 degrees Farenheit internally". So, she asked me if she needs to do the same for Mexicans.

Thank you mass media. You're not making deconstruction easy, are you?

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 33 replies

You can't make this shit up

2009-05-29T03:44:26Z

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ieHZRubAS3lyjn2GBiCPkXkHrXwwD97QROAG0

So apparently many Jews and Muslims find the disease name "Swine Flu" offensive because of the association with pigs which is prohibited in their religions so the deputy health minister in Israel has proposed that they call it "Mexican Flu." Hilarious! (in a most offensive way of course)
So on the news this morning I heard that the Mexican ambassador to Israel has already complained that they are very offended that Israel thought it fit to exchange "Swine" for "Mexican."

Why does this make me laugh so much?

It is bloody awful but sort of reminds me of something I'd see in a Monty Python sketch.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 25 replies

Yet more words of (questionable) wisdom

2009-05-26T06:09:25Z

(...from my father)

"Everyone is a bit of a larcenist. We all want to think we're getting away with something, especially when we can get it without offering anything more than we'd already do in return".

Hmmm...not sure what to make of this. Would you consider this extreme honesty or just narcissistic bullshit? Either way, it at least gave me a glimpse into WHY my powers of attraction continually attract the 'bad boys'. Thanks dad.

But seriously, do you find this to be true of yourself? Are we all just basically looking to take advantage of anyone and any situation that we can? If so, I suppose it also helps to explain why I'm not more successful. But, that's another story...

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 8 replies

Facebook? Twitter?

2009-05-11T03:03:28Z

I find myself over at Facebook a lot these days. Its both a good place to find old long lost friends and to talk to people I see every day. It has quickly become a fairly easy route for promoting gigs and/or finding out what's going on in town.

Knowing my tendency to get timesucked into these sorts of things, I am pretty hesistent to check out Twitter. I feel it pulling me in but I figured I'd ask for some opinions in here before I open (another) pandora's box .

Do you tweet?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 28 replies

She is all over the news...

2009-05-06T03:07:23Z

The tribe seems a bit dead...

Susan Boyle seems to have sparked all sorts of discussions on "beauty"

Me, what appeals is the way she stuck it up the audience and her singing gives me shivers :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Thoughts ?

Do her looks cloud her talent, do they matter, do they colour how people view her and her ability ?

How about her age ?

I have not seem much of her, but she does not seem to be a shrinking violet and I love the quiet (well founded!) confidence she showed in the face of the audience, but especially the judges ,who seemed to immediately have some preconceptions, both before, and after she sung.

Does the cover of the book *really* count ?

If these are stupid questions - why are many of our societies asking them ?

Has she got much coverage in the States ?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 44 replies

I'm back, if only for a moment....

2009-05-05T06:01:23Z

Hey, I am checking in after a loooong absence from Tribe (I can't even recall the last time I logged in, maybe 6 months, let alone posted or even lurked on discussions.

After being away for so long, I can (extremely) honestly say the main tribe I miss some days is EH. For a while many of you crazy, wonderful, opinionated, and generally enlightening, amusing, and sometimes raucous bunch of people were more like my 'true-life tribe' than many of the people I know in meatspace (offline). But the technical fuckups at tribe, it being down for hours at a time, for days in a row gave me a good opportunity to pull the Tribe-needle-jack out of my medulla oblongata and disconnect for a needed break that I wouldn't really admit I needed. Plus really busy being a Dad, getting laid-off, hunting for work, finding work, working, etc. You know, that thing some people like to call "life" (but is really just one aspect of life, one we choose, for better or for worse sometimes. For me, all the bullshit doesn't matter anymore when I hear my kids laughing, or find myself amazed at how amazing the rapid development of language and understanding of children. And to any of you anti-kid people: I love you, but fuck off OK? I know why you feel the way you do, as I have felt & thought similar
things in the past. But all I know now is I love being a parent. More than I ever thought I could. Kids are one of the rare things that give me some sort of faith in humanity, after all the horrible bullshit we have witnessed as a species the past 150,000 years. As to whether we are evolving into some sort of less-shitty (selfish, violent, angry) species as a whole...Well, the jury still seems to be out on that one. Ask me any given day and I may tell you something different. Anyway, I digress (I am good at that).

Perhaps I just swapped one addiction to "social media" for another, as I am pretty hooked on Twitter the past 9 months. It's not as fulfilling as tribe, but in many ways is easier, more immediate, and less demanding of time.

But either way, here I sit, unable to sleep so I decided to check in and see what's up @ EH lately. And of course there are 1700+ unread messages. So many I can't even pretend I'd want to catch up in any real sense.

But I do see a few people I remember, some of my favorite EH'ers are still here (...Come on, admit it, you have favorites. Yes YOU, you do too. You know you do. ;)

What have I missed? Can someone summarize (in 500 words are less, with more brownie points for substance than 'proper' grammar or linguistic traditions. If you are thinking Finnegan's Wake-style, that would be fun too. If you are auditing the EH class, then feel free to ignore this request.

woot!

posted in Extreme Honesty - 13 replies

The ugly beast of passive-aggressive comunication...

2009-04-29T08:05:10Z

...has reared its ugly head once again. Why-oh-why do some people choose this over actual communication? In just the past week three of the adults in my life have created a bit of a cluster-fuck with passive-aggressive communication and I finally put my foot down and refused to engage with them on this level.

The first, ugliest and also most ridiculous scenario involves one of my roommates and two cat litter boxes. I generally clean the cat boxes once every two weeks, and use a 'pooper scooper' in the interim. But due to a hectic holiday catering schedule, the kiddo's all being out of school and the fact that I've had a runny nose and couldn't really smell the cat boxes, I was remiss in getting them thoroughly cleaned out on time. Enter my roommate who, after coming out of what I can only call a cycle of depression (not going to work, school and spending up to 16 hours a day in bed sleeping and spending his awake hours on his computer in his room) went into a cycle of mania. As far as I know he's never been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, just chronic depression for which he takes meds. Anyway, he suddenly had tons of energy and began several huge projects, including building an awesome snowboarding ramp in our backyard that starts at the roof of our garage! The kids have had a blast on it. But I woke up on Sunday to him cleaning out my cat litter boxes while wearing a bandana around his face. He was obviously disgusted and very irritated and I told him that he didn't have to do that and that I'd planed on doing it that day anyway as I had no clients and no plans other than housecleaning. Long story short (oops, too late) he didn't accept my offer and instead decided to berate me and then told me that several people he's spoken with about it told him it was a health issue and could make him sick to have to breathe in dirty cat waste. I don't disagree, and this is why I usually clean them out more frequently. But here's what I don't understand...if he had the time and energy to talk to several 'friends' about this, then why couldn't he find the time/energy to bring it to the attention of the one person that would've solved the problem (me)?

In any case, as passive-aggression often does, the communication snowballed into attack-defense mode and he, once again, threatened to move out. So this time, cuz I'm sick of him using this bully tactic on me, I called his bluff and said, "Okay. Perhaps that would be best for both of us". I don't think he took me seriously until the next day when I returned his rent to him and asked him how to go about switching the internet bill over to my name (everything else is already in my name).

The other case doesn't seem to involve me directly, but the two friends involved have more or less invoked me without conferring with me first. To be honest, I'm not even clear on the details. It seems to be about their friendship being a bit rocky (in general) and one of them works for me part time while the other one rents my attic space (almost her own separate apartment). And because I'm teh one in contact with both of them they've begun using me as their sounding board for their feelings about the other. When one called me yesterday and asked me is the other said [this or that], and then the other pulled me aside to day and asked the same damn thing, I realized that this was going somewhere ugly fast and I had no desire to be caught int he middle. So, i told them both not to discuss the other with me and that if they continued to do so, that I would have no recourse but to be open and honest about what the other was saying since they are ridiculously refusing to express themselves to each other. I don't know if that's really the *right* thing to do, but I am fucking sick of grown folks pulling this shit on each other and I flat out refuse to be a part of it. END OF GAME. DO NOT INSERT ANOTHER TOKEN.

whew

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 24 replies

The annual anti-February post

2009-04-29T07:24:26Z

Okay, so here we are again, smack dab in the middle of my most hated month. This month we have Valentines Day, President's Day, my birthday and black awareness month. I take issue with ALL of the above.

Valentine's Day is nothing more than a capitalistic wet dream for the greeting card and floral industries. But, a nightmare for those of us that have chosen to be single (even if the choice is less than voluntary). We can choose, as an alternative, to celebrate Single Awareness Day.
So, what will it be folks? V.D. or S.A.D.?

Presidents Day? If we actually respected these presidents at all wouldn't we give them each their OWN individual day? Other than the fact that they're previous presidents they have virtually nothing in common. Well, okay...they're all WHITE MALE presidents. But really, do we need another day celebrating white males in positions of power?

My birthday...not that it's a heavy hitter here for anyone other than ME, but can't I choose to postpone this until I feel that I'm ready to turn 39? Not there yet. I'm still working on accepting that I'm in my 30's at all, and now, due to some arbitrary chronological time constraints I'm supposed to accept that I'm nearing 40? Nope. If the February 17 mandatory digital t.v. reception can be postponed indefinitely, then so can my gawdamned birthday!

And Black Awareness month? What's up with that?!?!?!?!? We're only supposed to be aware of dark skinned folks achievements and successes for 1 month out of the year? And if so, WHY is it the shortest month of the year we choose to celebrate these achievements and successes? Don't black folks contribute to our culture every fucking day of the year? Just the very fact that there is a *special month* dedicated to black people reeks of calendar segregation. There are 12 freaking months here, folks. And blacks get ONE? Who gets the rest? Oh, right. White folks. And white folks are so entitled to this calendar that they don't even need a Hallmark occasion...white's have cornered the market all year long, forever and for always (in their perception anyway).

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 61 replies

Social Networking and TMI

2009-04-12T04:58:58Z

As a performer I appreciate being able to post about shows I have coming up so people can come check them out. After commenting about some shows in the Facebook, Twitter thread, I posted a link to the band's web page which I later realized has all the info about where I'll be performing. I had hoped to get people interested and have them contact me privately for location and times, but the cat is totally out of the bag.

I realize that the vast majority of tribers are upstanding decent folks who wouldn't do anything untoward, but there are definitely some tribers whose on line presence makes me not want them to know exactly where I'll be at any given moment. What's a struggling musician to do?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 5 replies

Check out Google.com

2009-03-16T02:46:35Z

In commemoration of astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli's birthday they've apparently decided to place a penis entering a fiery vagina as part of their logo.

Um, did I miss something? Or was schlong really a cosmic entity?

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 12 replies

Public Speaking...er, MY public speech tomorrow morning

2009-02-18T18:06:20Z

Montana House Bill 252 comes up for a hearing tomorrow and I'll be speaking on the behalf of those that have chosen not to speak publicly. My speech is about 2 1/2 minutes long-and I tend to speak too rapidly under stress so perhaps it'll be closer to 2 minutes. It will be directed at the 18 members of the committee hearing this bill as well as the 100 members of the state legislature. Eeeek. Oh, and my mother is a legislator so she is planning on introducing me to the house (and it's mandatory for them to applaud my presence simply because I'm related to her) which translates into me turning every imaginable shade of red on LIVE public television!!!!!!!!

So, for those of you that are good at this sort of thing, do you have any pointers? Suggestions? Any idea how I might offset the full body blush I will no doubt experience? How to slow down my speech so normal human ears can decipher it without a code?

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 13 replies

"Really, all he has to do is press a button and the plane flies itself,"

2009-02-10T15:35:46Z

If it weren't for my criminal record, bad eyesight, tiredness on long journey's, fear of flying, hatred of long trips, and general disinterest . I might even consider this as an alternative to being a cannibal. It seems their expectations are almost as low as becoming a parent of octuplets.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/05/aeroflot-drunk-pilot

posted in Extreme Honesty - 5 replies

Text messaging woes

2009-02-06T05:52:12Z

I've come to hate this form of communication.

Last year I actually experienced an entire 'break up'/ dissolution of friendship via text messaging that, in hindsight, was little more than one person's assumptions crashing into another person's presumptions.

But now I am having a different sort of woe. I recently met a man that seemed interesting enough to get to know better. So, we went out on exactly 2 dates. The first was just a cocktail after work and the various topics of conversation were actually quite fascinating (he has one degree in molecular biology and worked for big pharma briefly before deciding that his real passions had to do with interface technologies in the realm of helping disabled folks become abled, even if they can't use their own limbs). Okay, so not much 'chemistry' there (for me), but there could many potential reasons for that including but not limited to me just not having much energy that day. So I agreed to have lunch with him today. Again, not any sort of a 'spark' for me and I was clear and direct about the fact that I found him very interesting but I just didn't see a future in *dating* him.

From 2pm (when we went our separate ways after lunch) til 6 pm he texted me no less than 14 times. I received these messages but didn't reply because I WAS BUSY...one kiddo at home sick with a sitter I had to relieve, another 2 I had to pick up from school and 1 that I had to get to tae kwon do class. At first his messages were just a little creepy in that overly familiar sort of way: "Do you miss me yet?", and "I hope you have phone set to vibrate so you can get maximum enjoyment out of all of my texts". Ewwww. I barely KNOW this person!

When his messages took on the tone of "why aren't you responding?" and " Do I need to teach you how to text so that you'll respond to me?" (around the 6th message) I stopped EVERYTHING and called him and asked him not to keep texting me as I WAS BUSY and that I wasn't too happy with his patronizing assumptions and sexualized tones. He said he understood. Then he texted me 6 MORE TIMES, and pulled the same shite again. Again, when I got a moment I called him and told him to STOP texting me, that I simply don't have time to respond and that I'm beginning to feel intruded upon.

He texted 2 MORE TIMES. What the fuck?

Apparently I have a text stalker who just isn't getting the very clear and direct messages I verbalized.

Anyway, I thought the entire point of texting or emailing or using all of these other forms of communication that don't involve face to face or voice to voice were intended as a glorified voice mail message...that the recipient could get back to the initiator WHEN they were able to- (or, in what is my case now, when and IF I fucking want to. And I really don't want to at this point!)

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 18 replies

What is it?

2009-02-02T03:15:35Z

I wonder, from an analytical point of view, what you think the purpose of creating lame alts just to annoy this tribe are all about?
Here are a few of my guesses:

1) Needs attention. Mommy and daddy weren't good to them. I say get over it. Mommy and daddy weren't good to most of us.

2) Nothing better to do. Lost their jobs due to incompetence or are avoiding doing any work while on the clock. Doesn't it get boring?

3) Whack job. Self explanatory.

4) Pissed because they didn't get on Jerry Springer and their cousin/brother/sister/lover (meaning the person is all four simultaneously) is taking it out on them because they wanted a chance to tell the story of how they were seduced by a morbidly obese dyslexic midget with 4 penises and became a heroine addict who hooks at truck stops. You ruined it for him/her. Now you're taking it out on EH.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 57 replies

The sub-conscious marking of a dreaded anniversary

2009-01-19T13:35:56Z

There are certain times of the year that seem to be triggers for me and, while they do seem somewhat consistent, I am nevertheless always caught off guard. I'll begin to have these minor adrenalin rushes and foreboding feelings and wander around in a bit of a daze not quite knowing why. About 2 years ago my therapist suggested that there might be some sort of anniversary related trigger and she asked me to look back through the times in my life when something particularly traumatic happened to see if there might some correlation. Sure enough, there was. This helped me to make sense of why my brain and body were doing the anxiety mambo, but now just knowing this seems to be creating a trigger all unto itself. Although, its not as if I mark my actual calendar.

For example, two days I began having a series of these adrenalin rushes. I had made several plans for Friday and Saturday and found myself terrified of actually going through with them. Skiing on Friday and then ice skating, movies and dinner with kiddo's on Saturday. I found myself awake at 4am on Friday morning dreading the ski slopes and well, even leaving the house. I forced myself anyway and had a good time (except for one run that turned out to be much more challenging than I was ready for) but managed to slowly navigate myself down it...cuz there really wasn't any other option. Then yesterday it happened all over again. That's when I remembered to check the calendar and there it was. The anniversary of my ex-husband's last physical abuse was on January 18, 2004- which resulted in me being taken to the emergency room and him being taken to jail. (Another annual trigger occurs in mid-April when I found my best friend after he'd committed suicide way back when we were only 14 years old and there are a couple of other one's not worthy of mentioning). Anyway, I decided to give myself the time and space to experience whatever it was my mind/body was trying to recall, but I had to schedule it in since I already had a full day of activities planned with the kiddos.

So I scheduled it in for today and made arrangements for my kiddo's to do other things outside of the house without me. I explained the situation to my older kids and they seemed to understand and were happy to help (providing I gave them a few $$ for lunch and ice cream while on their walk).

Anyway, I imagine that these sub-conscious anniversaries come up for many people. But I can't help but wonder if, now that I'm aware of the triggers, I'm creating a self-perpetuating cycle of anxiety simply by acknowledging the sources. Is there a way out of this labyrinth of anxiety? Granted, my responses have been less intense since I began paying attention to them, and telling myself that I will in fact allow myself to go ahead and feel whatever it is I need to go through seems to have quelled them a bit (even if I have to schedule it in), but I'd really like to remove them from my sub-conscious calendar entirely some day. So, I'm wondering if anyone here has had any breakthrough's with this sort of thing and if so, what seemed to help?

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 2 replies

Shameless self promotion

2009-01-19T02:02:50Z

I very rarely do this but I wanted to post a link to a live performance by my band King Black Acid. Check it out and comment if you feel like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FClEou45aY

For the Portlander's in the tribe, KBA is playing tonight (1/16/09) at The Crystal Ballroom.
We are also featured on the new soundtrack album for the movie Underworld Three, Rise of the Lycans, along with The cure, Perry Farrell, Alkaline Trio, AFI, and Maynard from tool's new solo project Pucifrous. You can grab that at itunes.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 3 replies

WTF, Florida?

2009-01-18T06:08:50Z

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24274123/

This is very disturbing given that none of these primates are monkeys- they're all lemurs; they are bot native to Puerto Rico (only found in Madagascar) so they couldn't have been caught there and the guy running the refuge runs a zoo and somehow doesn't know the difference between a prosimian and a monkey. Apparently, the Florida Wildlife Commission didn't notice either. I'm not even a zoology major, WTF is going on here?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 14 replies

Free speech and everyday oppression

2009-01-11T18:01:15Z

Like many people on tribe (but not all), I'm not big on authoritarianism - particularly of the paternalistic/hierarchal kind that's arbitrary and based on the whims of the designated authority (meaning not chosen by the people they have authority over). Conversely, I have a great deal of respect for people who earn positions of authority and who use authority with integrity, openness and honesty. It's not authority per se that I have issues with, it's mindless authority since it's oppressive and only serves the authority's needs and purposes. Whether it's nature or nurture, I have a hard time not pointing out this kind of abuse of power when I see it. I value honest discussion over social niceties.

I must say, I come to appreciate this particular tribe and Rich's moderation here more and more - particularly since this tribe has many people with strong voices who think independently. Not surprisingly really since I'm, er, slightly opinionated and vocal myself ;-)

This has come up recently in another tribe I'm in (I'd address it there but the moderator has said no one is allowed to question his moderation or they'll be booted out of the tribe, I'll also refrain from naming the tribe for the same reason and because it's more about the issue than the person to me). This situation has made me think about the personal and political regarding free speech, silencing people via threats as a means to maintain control, and deleting the evidence of any talk the authority disapproves of because, I guess, they're afraid of honest dialogue and hiding the evidence is the only way they feel they can maintain control and power while denying they're being a tyrant. (Of course, life is just much easier if one isn't engaged in trying to control others as a means to control oneself!). Now, granted, I'm pretty used to getting negative reactions for pointing out the elephant that's using up all the air in the room and throwing peanuts, but I do have to wonder about this kind of thing on tribe which is, theoretically at least, an open and egalitarian Burnerish community/space. It also makes me think about how this is going on at a much larger social level - the attempts to make people shut up about things that make the authorities uncomfortable or that point out their fascism. For me, there's definitely a connection between these minor (and largely unimportant) kinds of petty oppression of others and the larger governmental suppression that's been increasing in "free" and "democratic" societies - if we do it ourselves or condone it in small ways, do you think we're opening the door for thinking it's okay in big ways? What do people think? (Not about the tribe thing so much but about allowing and accepting the small acts of oppression as a gateway to accepting or not even noticing larger ones?)

posted in Extreme Honesty - 16 replies

Ack! What is the world coming to?

2009-01-09T16:22:01Z

My best lesbian friend now has a boyfriend and my best fag friend now has a crush on ME!!!!!!!

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 4 replies

Health care discussion group

2009-01-07T21:48:24Z

The guy that Mods the DIY tribe has asked for folks to join a discussion sponsored by Obama's transition team concerning what people want from Health care reform. Since I believe the discussions here are some of the best issue based and topical discourse I thought perhaps some of you may be interested:

I hope this does not come off as spam since that is not the intention
http://tribes.tribe.net/health_care_team-obama

Have a good one
JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 2 replies

More "brawl" than brains?

2009-01-05T16:54:49Z

Okay, so I've had a *crush* on my biology prof all semester. At times it seemed reciprocal, but he's a genuinely sweet, charming and incredibly funny man so it was impossible to really tell if the vibe I was receiving was the same vibe he was sending.

Anyway, I waited out the 16 weeks til the semester was over and went ahead and emailed him asking if we could meet sometime for coffee/tea/lunch/cocktails, now that I'm no longer his student and he's no longer my prof. I hit the send button and of course immediately regretted it.

But lo and behold, 2 days later, he replied with a YES.

He wrote:
"I dig the interest. Very brave and open of you. I like that.
I'm off to california to visit family and warm up a bit.
I'll call you when I get back (around the new year) so we can arrange a date.
Maybe some pizza and chatting to break the ice?"

I am currently on cloud 5 1/2. Will know more once we meet in person.

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 19 replies

Honesty about Santa Claus?

2008-12-26T03:31:02Z

I've taken the path of -what now seems- most resistance by being upfront and honest about the whole Santa Claus myth. I did this for a few reasons, but the main one was because when I became a single mom again I simply could not afford the sort of Christmas that we'd had before and that their friends and our neighbors seemed to be enjoying. The last thing I wanted was for them to feel that our temporary poverty meant that they were "naughty". They were having a tough enough time without also internalizing Santa's lack as being somehow their faults.

But of course the media, schools and our overall culture of parenting with mythological deceit has done its best to undermine me in this form of compassionate honesty. This year I asked them to tell me what they'd like to believe because I'm open to interpreting this thing in whatever way they feel most comfortable and gain joy from. My littlest ones said they believe in the "spirit of Santa Claus" even though they know I am the one putting presents under the tree. I said okay, "so should we make some cookies for Santa's spirit?" and they looked at me like I'd lost my mind! They both laughed and said, "spirits don't eat COOKIES, mom!". Then I laughed and said we could leave it some rice and we all ended up laughing and tickling each other and just generally feeling happy about the season and the holidays. So, we left it at that for now.

Anyway, I'm curious how those of you with kiddos handle this mythical fat man in a red suit that supposedly creeps into your house while you're asleep issue? (And then we can talk about that life size rabbit that somehow had something to do with zombie Jesus a few months down the road).

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 22 replies

Ah for love of Brevity

2008-12-24T19:54:54Z

http://totallysux.com/staticmedia/1669_short_medium.jpg

The piece is an image file so I could not cut n paste but it sums up doing exactly what a prof asks for no more and no less

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 5 replies

help me die, please...

2008-12-22T05:41:08Z

A Quebec man was recently acquitted for helping his uncle commit suicide (suicide itself is no longer illegal here, it was part of the secularization of Quebec, but assisting suicides is illegal).

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/12/12/mtl-assistedsuicide1212.html

It's one of those things I've been thinking about for most of my life since it's been an ethical debate within medicine for a long time (and there are doctors who have been quietly giving people options and assistance for a long time, under the table of course since it's illegal for them to do so). I also have a friend who teaches medical ethics who made some very salient arguments against it as well, so while I lean towards people having the right to choose, how that option is exercised is important too. I'd be interested to hear what people here think about the matter. (I'm aware of my own bias, which comes from a horror of the idea of being in a position where I didn't have the option to terminate my own life when suffering went beyond what I want - or need - to experience...be it being trapped in my own body or imprisoned and tortured. I'm find the idea of death preferable than being forever immersed in a sea of pain that interferes with my ability to lead a meaningful - to me - life.)

posted in Extreme Honesty - 28 replies

More info on your rights here in the US

2008-12-19T11:39:59Z

I can only hope that Obama restores out civil liberties. I am not certain of this and he is gonna have to prove it. Sooo I have another bit you should know about how the system is supposed to work. Know your rights folks and exercise them
http://lawcollective.live.radicaldesigns.org/

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 1 reply

Jury Nullification

2008-12-19T05:15:34Z

Interesting piece on Jury Nullification. If you are not familier with the concept it allows for a jury to find a person guilty of the crime but the crime as unjust or repugnant.
http://www.rawilson.com/chaos.shtml

"An old idea has resurfaced that may have major potential to slow or even reverse the terrifying erosion of the Bill of Rights under the Reagan-Bush team and their right-wing Supreme Court. I refer to the revival of the ancient Saxon doctrine of Jury Nullification which has now become a projected Constitutional amendment under consideration in 22 states.

Since Mr. Justice Brennan, the last plumb-line defender of civil liberties, has retired, and the Supreme Court seems fated to move even further toward the authoritarian right-wing, only Jury Nullification can preserve what still remains in this perishing Republic of Anglo-American libertarianism.

Jury Nullification rests upon an old Common Law principle (which Lysander Spooner in his scholarly "Essay on Trial by Jury" [1852] proved to underlie the Jury clause of Magna Carta) -- viz, that the only way to prevent the government from imposing unjust or nefarious laws is to grant juries the right to negate such laws. This right, as Spooner demonstrated, explains the tradition that a jury should consist of twelve citizens selected at random and thereby representing (as far as scientifically possible) the full range of common sense and common morality of the population in general (including the recalcitrants and cranks among us, upon whom liberty has always depended in bad times.)

In a once popular formulation, the doctrine of Jury Nullification holds that "a jury may judge the law as well as the facts in the case." Since Magna Carta this has been repeatedly upheld by courts in both England and America, only occasionally denied by lower, and currently remains the law of both countries, although judges have no legal obligations to inform juries that they possess this right. "

Something to keep in mind say if you are called for a Marijuana case and you are against the War on Drugs

JSin

<Note the site has the most annoying animated gif I have ever been bombarded with>

posted in Extreme Honesty - 4 replies

First draft Cooking school essay

2008-12-16T04:42:19Z

ok folks would love some feedback. This is about 340 words... Limit is 150 but I have no clue how to start cutting it.<warning cap lock error not yelling> i WOULD LOVE ANY FEEDBACK YOU MAY HAVE GOOD OR BAD <HONESTLY THE BAD IS MORE SIGNIFICANT TO ME> <end cap lock error>

:::::::::Begin transmission:::::
1. What are your career goals and how do you expect your education at The Art Institute of Seattle to help you attain them?

Ahhh to worship at the feet of the porcine gods. To allow my hand, mind, and knife to concoct the most treasured of morsels. To see the smile of a diner look up at me with shining grease dripping from their chin.

In essence, my goal is, to open my own restaurant and create an atmosphere where both the diner and employee feel as though they are wanted, cared for, and satiated. To do this I know I need credentials from a program that has status within the culinary arts community. I need to know how a kitchen operates. I need to understand what makes the business aspects of running a restaurant work. Above all I need to understand the culinary arts that exist outside of my experience. I need to be influenced by others whether they are instructors or fellow students.

2. In what way are you willing to commit to your education in order to be successful?

I have taught myself to be a carpenter, handyman, tattoo artist and poet. I have taught myself to recognize mold and rot, skin dynamics, and aesthetics. I find now that to teach ones self is folly. I have only made my life harder by deciding I need to reinvent the wheel. What can I commit to, aside from perhaps slaughtering a goat and roasting it over a combination of apple, oak, and hickory? I commit to be teachable above all else. I commit to learn that which has come before me and understand why and how it integrates with that which I wish to do. I commit to understanding the juncture of quality and profitability. I commit to learn to run a restaurant of the highest caliber.

::::::::End Transmission:::::::

JSin

posted in Extreme Honesty - 30 replies

Life experience has made me academically STOOPID

2008-12-16T03:35:27Z

So, I decided to go back to school last August to finish up a handful of credits so I could finally receive this damn degree. I am 38. I have 4 kiddos. One of my kiddos is attending the same college with me. One is in high school and my twins are in first grade. It is because my youngest are now in school with a stable M-F schedule that I decided to go back to school myself. I can't stand having unfinished things hanging over my head. Ahem.

Anyway, I'm fucked.

Of course, I didn't realize how fucked I was until halfway into this semester, and what I did realize wasn't that I'm unintelligent but that I am apparently constitutionally incapable of simply regurgitating back the same putrid vomit I'm being fed. Not anymore anyway. I must've been fairly good at it before because I had a 3.78 GPA and was in the Honors program. But something happened. I learned, because I fucking HAD TO, to think outside of the proverbial box these past 7 years, and now my GPA is on a downward spiral. I know this sounds like another version of the whole martyr B.S..."They just don't get me", but it's not that. I wrote and studied my ass off for some of these classes- way more than I did before- and still couldn't pull anything higher than a low to mid range B.

WTF?

Or, maybe I am more STOOPID now than I was before, but if so, I'll take it. This version of STOOPID has housed, clothed and fed my kiddo's despite the initial odds against that reality. Strangely, I've ENJOYED my classes more (well, most of them) this semester more than I recall enjoying classes in the past. I feel I even learned MORE this time around. Sadly, that doesn't translate into a great GPA or my chances of getting into graduate school next year.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 26 replies

What The Fart?

2008-12-14T05:03:27Z

Did we lose some threads? It almost looks like they restored posts from a server back up: There are threads missing, some threads have less posts than they used to, etc.

Mein got. If they can do all this, where will they stop?!?!?!

posted in Extreme Honesty - 58 replies

LinkedIn?

2008-12-14T04:45:35Z

I now have 5 invitations to join this 'professional' network. It's supposed to be like facebook minus all the hoopla. I looked into it and can't make any more sense of it than I can with Facebook.

Anyway, I was having dinner with my stepfather tonight, a well respected wildlife film documentary maker as well as published author on screenwriting and head of a graduate school wildlife film documentary program called "Terra", and he said that he also received several invites so he decided to finally go ahead and join an create a profile. Now, teh only reason I mentioned all of his amazing and awe inspiring credentials is because he didn't mention even a single ONE in his LinkedIn profile. I suppose this makes him an "alt".

He used his real name but said that he was the "His Holiness, the XI Bishop of Bessarabia at Principality of Moldova" and that his life's goal is to "make the holy pilgrimage by the feet between Szerbo and Laszka, the path road of martyred St. Fyodor, 1624-1671 to the blessed spring to which miracles to this day today happen still. By the graceful of Iesus Christos, this shall happen the day before I die."

"To connect with His Holiness light candle please, blessed peace be unto all who speak his name."

Did I ever mention how much I love this man? If not, my bad. He is like a brilliant little kid in an old man's body.

But I digress. Anyone here on this networking site?

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 3 replies

"Time to Say Goodbye to George W. Bush"

2008-12-06T23:56:14Z

This is the gal that runs the theter camp my kids go to as well as the Improv for the Spirit workshop I attended. She is fucking fabulous!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3f6MUtAf-g

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 1 reply

anti-EH drama spreads!

2008-12-06T22:37:26Z

If you happen to be bored and want a bit of sunshine in your life or a bit of trolleric reading watching sunshine try to take over a science tribe (!).....

http://tribes.tribe.net/cognitivescience/thread/d23ea20b-bbe8-4212-815f-23ba89a5d900

sunshine - "cunt is appropriate for you... IMO... Don't like it .... move back to extreme honesty... you can handle it there... Oh, and Extreme Honesty refugees tribe, will not accept either of you, just so you are clear. :)"

The threat that I wouldn't be accepted into tribe refugees and the "insult" that I could handle extreme honesty (while she can't) was so funny I had to post it!

posted in Extreme Honesty - 72 replies

HELL

2008-12-05T16:47:35Z

"Hell"

Basically, there are only three words translated as "hell" in the entire Bible. The word "hell", as we in our time have mythologized it actually NEVER occurs in the entire Bible. It was inserted by the King James translators...and others with the vested interest of controlling the masses through spiritual and literal fear.

The words associated with "Hell"

New Testament (NT) link: www.biblegateway.com/keyword/
(substitute the word Gehenna in each instance that "hell" is used...)

Gehenna (greek)
In the OT, the word for hell is 'ge-hinnom' (hebrew) meaning "Valley of Hinnom." It was a place to the southwest of Jerusalem. This place was once "called 'Topheth' and derived from an Aramaic word meaning 'fireplace.' It was here that some pagan kings practiced human sacrifice by fire (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; Jer. 7:31; 32:25). This is probably why in the NT the word came to be associated with destruction by fire, as human sacrifices were once stacked like cordwood there and burned in fiery conflagration. Hence, the "burning forever" in torment concept was most likely formed in relation to this valley. The word 'Gehenna' is found in the NT 14 times and every instance is spoken of by Jesus. In the NT, "gehenna" is an actual physical location, the city dump!
The Jews believed this valley to be cursed, and it was turned into a refuse heap, the city dump. It was a jagged crevasse where refuse was hurriedly thrown, since the land there was not fit for any other purpose. Even in modern times, the organic waste in a dump...if left to rot, may eventually spontaneously combust. Such was the case with this valley outside of Jerusalem. I can imagine it to be the very vision of "hell", with the acrid smoke, and smell, perpetual burning and cursed history. I can imagine Jewish parents teasing their children, "If you do not behave, we will take you out to Gehenna and leave you there." Children may have had the task of helping to carry refuse, and knew the place and its horrors well.
This place was within the consciousness of every Jerusalem Jew, and if they needed a reminder, they simply needed to cast their gaze off to the southwest, and the smoky stench rising from it was clearly visible. It is how the desolate vision of hell came into the modern human consciousness. The rest is pure myth supplied by Dante, Milton, and other writers with apocalyptic views.
"Hell" is a word never in the Bible, and "Gehenna" was the word used - for the smelly dump outside the city gates!

Hades
This word only occurs in the NT, ten times, and corresponds to the OT word "sheol." Jesus uses the word four times: Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23. The other six occur in Acts 2:27,31; Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13,14.
It was probably the "subterranean abode of all the dead until the judgment. It was divided into two departments, paradise or Abraham's bosom for the good, and Gehenna or "hell" for the bad." In particular, in the account of Lazarus and the Rich man of (Luke 16:19-31), it is a place of the conscious dead in waiting.

Sheol
"The Hebrew word Sheol is probably derived from a root "to make hollow," and was seen as the common receptacle of the dead and in the great many places the word appears in the OT, it is referring to the grave. It is a place and is mentioned in Gen. 37:35; Num. 16:30,33; Psalm 16:10, etc. Sheol has many meanings in scripture: the grave, the underworld, the state of the dead. It was supposed to be below the surface of the earth (Ezek. 31:15,17; Psalm 86:13).

These two concepts (Hades/Sheol) are ancient and borrowed from the Greeks and stories and myths back into prehistoric times...to the very earliest memory. The concept of purgatory also springs from them.

Hell is pure mythology, at least as we know it...and is wholly unsupported by the Bible. It is a case of rewriting Biblical statements to support a foregone conclusion. Not one of accepting what is actually written and why.

Tartarus

Tartarus is the lowest region of the world, as far below earth as earth is from heaven. According to the Greek poet Hesiod, a bronze anvil falling from heaven would take nine days and nights to reach earth, and an object would take the same amount of time to fall from earth into Tartarus. Tartarus is described as a dank, gloomy pit, surrounded by a wall of bronze, and beyond that a three-fold layer of night. Along with Chaos, Earth, and Eros, it is one of the first entities to exist in the universe.

While Hades is the main realm of the dead in Greek mythology, Tartarus also contains a number of characters. In early stories, it is primarily the prison for defeated gods; the Titans were condemned to Tartarus after losing their battle against the Olympian gods, and the hecatoncheires stood over them as guards at the bronze gates. When Zeus overcomes the monster Typhus, born from Tartarus and Gaia, he hurls it too into the same abyss.

However, in later myths Tartarus becomes a place of punishment for sinners. It resembles Hell and is the opposite of Elysium, the afterlife for the blessed. When the hero Aeneas visits the underworld, he looks into Tartarus and sees the torments inflicted on characters such as the Titans, Tityos, Otus and Ephialtes, and the Lapiths. Rhadymanthus (and, in some versions, his brother Minos) judges the dead and assigns punishment.

There may be minor Biblical associations with the word Tarturus....in the same vein as Hades/Sheol.

Interesting that all of these concepts are not Christian in any way...but much older ones. I doubt very seriously if Jesus Christ himself taught fear of any of them. The only word he ever used was Gehenna...which was NOT "hell". It was a psychological mindset separated from God's and represented by the Valley of Hinnom, a cursed valley turned into the city dump of Jerusalem! Nothing more! There is NO HELL waiting to burn anyone in torment for eternity! But, if you love suffering and torment and MUST have it in your philosophy and/or religion, knock yourself out!

posted in Extreme Honesty - 151 replies

is eh a religion ?

2008-12-04T02:04:11Z

my answer? YES.

we have all sorts of characteristics of a "cult" or a "religion" or whatever - and heck, since we dont pay usa-taxes - i guess theres THAT benefit too...

sorry - i do not plan on tithe-ing tho... ;-) lol.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 4 replies

The non-sequitur thread

2008-12-03T05:43:12Z

This thread is dedicated to anyone who wishes to make random statements devoid of context, and lacking any specific discussion point.

Think of it as a big room where all those crazy street people yelling at lampposts can congregate.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 25 replies

Ah, family holiday drama. How cliche.

2008-12-03T04:51:41Z

So, my mother is going through divorce #5 thereby altering family holiday get-togethers in some interesting ways. For one, my house is now the designated home for T-day and Christmas/Hannakuh/Solstice celebrations (and yes, some of celebrate one or more of these) because she's moved out into a much smaller place and just isn't all that interested in putting on the big to do. This is fine by me and I've even been enjoying this passing of the torch as it's given me an excuse to allow my inner Martha Stewart free regin. Sadly, it also means that all holidays must now be split up so that we can spend time with my now ex-step-father whom we all love and for three of my kiddo's is the only grandfather they've ever known. Okay, that can be managed as well. Today was to be spent with mom, aka 'grandma' (though she won't actually let my kids call her that) and my clan of 5 as well as 3 close friends and 2 additional kiddos for a total of 10 people and went a little nuts and bought a 20# turkey. I even found a "kid table", and because this is a brand new thing for my little one's they're actually looking forward to sitting at it! haha

And then 'grandpa' is coming over on Sunday for a reprisal of Thanksgiving dinner.

I woke up this morning feeling festive and looking forward to the day as well as to our tradition of playing charades after dinner. I love coming up with obscure and potentially really embarrassing things for people to act out...it's compensation for the fact that, even when dinner was at mom's, I always ended up preparing most of teh food. (Some of my favorites are, "Tales of the Vulgar Unicorn"- book, and "Blazing Saddles"- movie). IOW, I'm more than happy to prepare all of the food as long as I can witness my close friends and family being absolutely silly in the aftermath. That's fair, right?

Anyway, mom called this morning to see if I needed anything else from the store or any additional serving spoons, etc. Er, at least that's why she said she was calling. A few minutes into the convo she said, "By the way, my new boyfriend will be coming into town later this evening and so I invited him over for coffee, dessert and charades".

silence

mom: "Hello? Are you still there?"

me: "Um, well...I wasn't really prepared for additional guests, mom."

mom: "You said you bought a 20# turkey, plus he's only coming over for dessert and I'm bringing pecan pie, remember?"

me: "Okay mom, look, it's not so much about having enough food- though I do have the table set for exactly 10 people- but it's more that I'm simply not ready to meet this new beau of yours. And honestly, I don't think the kids are ready yet either. It's only been 3 months and I would prefer to meet him over coffee or lunch somewhere before having him join us for a holiday meal".

mom: "I wish I'd known you felt that way so that I wouldn't have invited him".

me: "Well, you could've ASKED. Most people ask before they invite additional guests to someone else's house. It's just the considerate thing to do. But you didn't ask...you just invited him and assumed it would be okay. And to be completely honest, aside from teh fact that I haven't yet digested the fact that you and my step-father, aka 'grandpa' are no longer together, I definitely haven't begun to work through how I feel about you dating someone younger than me with children that you spend more time with than your own grandchildren. I'm not saying I don't want to accept him in your life, but that I'm just not as quick at accepting these things as you'd like me to be".

mom: "Well, if that's how you feel then I don't feel comfortable coming over either".

me: "What? You're joking, right? You called to ask me about serving spoons and now there's an ultimatum involved? If I don't feel comfortable having your new boyfriend over then you're not coming either? Look, I realize you're dating someone 21 years younger than you, but now you're acting as if you're 13 years old! I can't believe you're pulling this passive-aggressive bullshit today. I was really looking forward to a holiday meal without all this fucking drama, mom. At any point in the last few weeks you could've simply asked if it was okay to invite him and I would've said that I'd rather meet him some other time, before or after a big holiday get-together. No drama. But instead you manipulated him into the scene with an ultimatum, and I doubt he'd be any more comfortable knowing this than I am".

mom: silence

Apparently she hung up.

Then she called back and left a message (my hands were elbow deep in a 20# turkey carcass so I couldn't answer...probably a good thing) stating that I am painting her as 'the bad guy' and did I know that my step-father was chatting with women on eharmony.com before they even split up? And how dare I not be accepting of her new boyfriend when she's always been accepting of mine? (not altogether true) And that she was going to invite my twins out for a movie so I could have a little time to myself before everyone arrived, and that she has all these mashed potatoes and this pecan pie and what do I expect her to do with them?

Um...I fail to see how my step father's eharmony shenanigans have anything at all to do with this, first of all. He's not issuing ultimatums or passive-aggressive manipulation tactics to force me or my children to accept a new girlfriend. Fortunately, he's healthier and more mature than that. Thaw was just my mother's way of derailing the topic and making any negative reaction I might have invalid. Secondly, I hadn't painted her as 'the bad guy'...I just had some issues of my very own to work through regarding their divorce and then her going on an on about how wonderful this new guy is and how great his kids are. MY ISSUES, not hers, but I haven't had a fucking chance to try to understand them beyond my initial reactions, which is precisely WHY I didn't bring the subject up with her. I was hoping that by the time she ASKED me to meet this new beau, I'd have a better understanding of these reactions and with any luck be ready to meet him without these jaded feelings.

In any case, I called her back and left a message saying that I think we could at least try to put this issue behind us for today and talk about it later when we've both cooled off, and that it's really important to me that we allow the 8 other people involved have a "Happy Thanksgiving" and that perhaps we, if we stop laying blame on each other for this one day, might also have a "Happy Thanksgiving".

So, I'm posting this here because I feel that I was trying to be authentic and diplomatic which clearly didn't work. So I went for extreme honesty, and probably said a few things that could've been worded more diplomatically, yet here we are..at an impasse of sorts and my joy and excitement over being the hostess-with-the-mostess is pretty much gone. I'm working on it though, which is another reason why I'm posting this. To just get it out and perhaps have some dialogue about it that doesn't end with hanging up on me. I realize I can sometimes be insensitive, but this time I felt the need to protect my children's sensitivities as well...and my youngest one's aren't even fully aware that their grandparents have separated. That's my fault. They've just been going through so much that I was trying to wait til after the holidays to tell them.

Ah. FUCK.

end rant.

-K

posted in Extreme Honesty - 21 replies

So what did you talk about?

2008-12-01T03:04:50Z

Did you have/go to a Thanksgiving dinner? What did you talk about? Did the conversation drift and jump or did you have a main topic of conversation?

I was thinking about that evening and surprisingly enough we didn't discuss Obama a single time. Usually politics is the main topic of conversation with my family. We did still talk about politics which is why I find it funny that our President elect didn't come up at all.
Our conversation drifted quite a bit this time. We talked about the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and how it was out of money and who was offering to give it money and who isn't. We discussed Somalian pirates and then after that passionate expression throughout history and how the lack of eminent mortality has actually weakened it in the western world, and then I don't even remember how we got on the subject but our longest conversation of the night was about Modern Country Music versus Old Country Music and what exactly is meant by Outlaw Country music and then the roots of Blue Grass ending in how we all agree that Willie Nelson seems so darn nice.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 7 replies

Elaine's martyr thread

2008-11-26T21:21:43Z

Here you go Elaine, your own martyr thread. Now to do this correctly you must assume a contrived and completely delusional sense of superiority and try to convince us all that the whole world would be better if only we followed your path to enlightenment. Think you can handle it?
I should point out however that most likely enlightenment is a code word for reefer.

posted in Extreme Honesty - 47 replies

It's Me or Madonna

2008-11-23T23:25:32Z

My friend is obsessed with Madonna. I put up with his constant Madonna talk for years - seriously worshipful stuff: Her Royal Highness etc. Once I asked him to go for 30 mins without one reference to her & he couldn’t! Anyway, before he drove me half crazy with Madonna talk I thought she was OK, though for me she peaked on her second album (let’s not get into a fight about it).

Anyway I read some pretty serious stuff about Madonna and her recent behaviour on the net: Banning her support act from talking to her; her crew threatening to walk because she treated them so poorly & also some quite disturbing conspiracy theory about her Illuminati connections… I thought she sounded like she had gone mad with power - & who can blame her with the nut case fans she has…

So my friend - OB - just got back from seeing her in two concerts in the USA - where he listened obsessively to her on the way over (& I presume back). I think that’s about 16 hrs….It’s mind boggling to me - someone who basically puts on a CD when she’s cleaning. So I decided to take action: I told him it was Me or Madonna. I could no longer tolerate his worshipful references to her. That was on Saturday & I haven’t heard from him since. I don’t expect to, either.

At first I thought that Madonna would win for sure & just accepted that. But the more I think about it the more pissed I get. I’m a real person. His friend. She’s a fantasy. A stranger he will more than likely never even meet let alone know. I heard she instructs people not to meet her eyes.

So I’m glad I did what I did. I think it’s finally woken Me Up to how friggin nutso my ’friend’ is! I know ultimatums are hard things to give but it really was my way of reaching into his poor deluded brain for the last shred of sanity there… Sadly I think he’s not uncommon…

Thoughts?

posted in Extreme Honesty - 69 replies

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