Bearer of Bad News

I have yet to test this hypothesis, but my guess is that if you have to deliver bad news it won't reflect as badly on you if you do it from a prone position.

Moat

I read somewhere that the middle class acts as a moat protecting the rich from the poor. So, I get very confused when I see the rich shitting all over the middle class and, in effect, doing away with the moat.

You see it everywhere lately: Some huge mega-corporation decides to slash its employees' benefits to the bone in order to save a few pennies even though it's made BILLIONS in profits in a given year (cough-cough-Viacom-cough-cough). What the hell is going on here???

I understand that many corporations are run by greedy sons-of-bitches who would stab their own grandmothers in the face just to make an extra buck. But, when they begin in earnest to destroy the only buffer between themselves and the filthy rabble clamoring at the castle walls...well, what exactly is going on?

Anybody with even the slightest grasp of history knows that when wealth is concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite, and the peasants are starving, it's time to roll out the guillotines. So, what gives? Do they think that the masses are so doped with "bread and circuses" that the powderkeg won't ever explode? I wonder.

Maybe those concentration camps that Halliburton (go ahead, look it up) has been quietly building are meant for anyone who speaks out-- for anyone who tosses a molotov cocktail over the ramparts-- for anyone who has worked for a company for 10+ years and ends up getting raped by it.

I don't know. Maybe we are all too pacified to do anything about it. As long as cable TV is piped in to the homeless shelters then maybe our corporate masters really don't have anything to worry about!

Kidding?

I know, I know. They say you should never discuss religion or politics. I'll never learn, will I?

A fellow blogger (thanks H!) posted a link to an article about a devout muslim guy in Canada who killed his daughter because she didn't want to wear her hijab (head scarf). Of course we can all agree that this is a pretty extreme case, and that most folks wouldn't react this way. It's turbo-fundamentalism, and just plain insane, right?

The Quran and the Bible are chock full of passages that, to our 21st century western minds, seem absurdly violent and misogynistic. From the Quran:

4:34- Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to
excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of
women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge [whip] them.

From the Bible:

Leviticus 21:9- And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

And those quotes don't even begin to scratch the surface of all the violent, bizarre, cruel, stuff you'll find in there (mixed in with the good stuff, of course). So, faced with that, what are we to think? Only the most devout, hardcore fanatic would do exactly as their holy book commands (and they would probably be jailed for doing it) right???

Well... Yeah, probably.

So, most religious people in the west practice a more moderate and relaxed version of their faith. I mean, does anyone actually avoid shellfish because they are "abominations?" Do you kill your kids when they "curseth" you? Do you murder people whose beliefs differ from your own? Do you ladies go into exile when menstruating? The books say you should...

But, what I want to know is, if these holy books are the WORD OF GOD, is it OK for us mere mortals to pick and choose which parts we want to follow and which we would rather ignore? That doesn't seem like a very good idea. I would think that it's an either/or kind of deal: either you do exactly as He says, or don't get to be in the club. Am I wrong in thinking that?

"Untitled"

Big Smile

Look how happy you are! Gosh, you're happy!

Intruder

I was at a restaurant lastnight, and I went to the restroom. When I got inside I thought it was sort of strange that I didn't see any urinals. It didn't dawn on me until I was already "about my business" in one of the stalls that I was actually in the Lady's Room. I hadn't even been drinking! Fortunately(?) no one else came in and I escaped without being noticed. It would have made for a better story had someone come in. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Cell Phone Driver

This person is often driving in the car ahead of me. She takes different cars sometimes. For instance, she was in front of me TWICE yesterday on my way to work!

We

Always refer to yourself in the first person plural. They will think you're eccentric, and geometrically speaking, they will be correct. But, we know it's more accurate than the first person singular. Don't we.

The Corporate Pyramid

Due to popular demand, you can buy a shirt (or something else) with this image on it HERE.

Judge

Who is judging you? Does their judgement carry any weight? How did they get in that position? Do you respect their opinion? Or do you only imagine that you are being judged? Is the judge a projection of something inside of your psyche?

Polite Laughter

Here, you'll need this in your Social Skills Toolbox.

Of Two Minds