The Changing Landscape of Social Networking & the Future of the Internet

I use Google Reader to subscribe to various news, blogs and podcasts. I also subscribe to many of the same sources via Facebook and Twitter. These days, I've noticed I spend more time on Facebook and less on Google Reader. Facebook puts my social, political and other interests all in one place. Social networking is no longer purely a social experience. The lines between the social, the personal and the private are becoming blurred.

Economy: Singapore vs. US

Just a quick commentary. I arrived in my second home of Singapore roughly 3 weeks ago. Since then, I have been working non-stop--literally 12-16 hours a day--on a software development project with an overly ambitious deadline. Therefore, you must excuse the simplicity of this post. It is late, and I'm lucky to have a thought in my head.

En route to Singapore, I had a stopover in Japan. My first observation was the obvious: the yen had strengthened quite a lot against the mighty US dollar. My overall experience in Japan has confirmed the value of a production-based economy.

If This Were Your Universe . . .

Suppose you were a wealthy and powerful parent. How would the world perceive you if these facts were discovered:

On the day they are born, you tell them they are already a bad person.

Some of your children are poor or happened to be born in a dark corner of the room, so you allow them to go without health care and suffer horrible diseases.
 

The diseases they suffer from were of your own invention.
 

You decide to create chaos to "test" them, and send an earthquake to destroy their home.
 

One of your daughters and son in law move away, become rich and happy while failing to adore you, so you destroy their entire city with a volcanic eruption.
 

You tell you favorite children to make war with your least favorite children.

The debt you don't know you have

You don't need to buy a home or a car to be in debt. You can be indebted without a loan or a credit card. Listen up!

Rent is debt if you sign a lease. Most landlords require you sign a six to twelve month lease.

Most people buy a cellphone through the service provider and sign a two year contract. That is debt. (That's why I bought an unlocked GSM phone in Asia and use always prepaid service). BTW, it is impossible to buy an iPhone in US without a contract.

You can't set up a new Internet or television service in your home or flat without a contract. Period.

The US market is designed to force people into debt slavery by its system of service contracts. When you have a contract, you're obligated for that period of time even if your circumstances change. That's debt.

I strongly encourage anyone who reads this to think twice before signing the dotted line. Do you really need an iPhone so badly you'd enslave yourself to it? It is your master for the duration of the contract. You are enslaved for two years to pay for a phone that will be outdated before the contract expires.

Think about it.

Is Singapore Truly a Police State?

I keep hearing various comments from media outlets, blogs, etc. proclaiming Singapore to be a police state. Just this morning Thom Hartmann sated that as the reason for it's low crime rate. It's system of "fines" for such things as gum chewing, jaywalking, etc. is supposedly keeping its population in line. Having spent several months in Singapore, I've never felt restrained by its alleged police control. Nor do I think its legal system keeps Singaporeans in check. I have a much different theory about Singapore's low crime rate.

The Psychology of "Unfriending"

On Facebook there is a feature which allows users to remove people from their list of friends, dubbed by users as "unfriending". I wish Facebook would enhance this feature. Unfriending someone is childish and cowardly. It allows people to silently end a friendship without having to confront the offender (or victim, as the case may be). Such a tool is used primarily for petty and emotional purposes and rarely for logical reasons.

I consider myself quite fortunate. Despite my controversial nature, my list of friends has been steadily growing. There have been a few casualties on the way up, but I can count them on one hand. In no case was I unfriended by someone I had any emotional connections to (that I've noticed anyway). While I don't miss them, I can't help but wonder what the catalyst was. Such things are important to know. Why? When you run a business, and customers drop away, you try to identify the cause in order to improve your business. I regard social networking friendships, blog subscribers, etc. in the same fashion. My goal is to generate discussion on difficult topics, while not driving people away. It would be nice to identify the exact post or cause of such an extreme action.

Should Churches Host Easter Egg Hunts?

This topic came up in a recent Facebook post. My friend posted that she felt it appalling that churches would hold an Easter egg hunt. She and her husband felt the church should avoid anything whose origins were pagan. They reasoned that Satan uses these rituals, even today, to distract people from God and should not be practiced.

I am from an agnostic family, but frequently went to church with friends. I attended Assembly of God, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist and Disciples of Christ Churches during my youth. Not one of them held such an attitude regarding Easter. In fact, I don't recalling knowing that any Christian's were opposed to these traditions.

It wasn't until I became older and moved to the south end that I began to encounter a new breed of Christian. I met believer's who were against Christmas Trees, the Easter Bunny, and even Harry Potter. Has Christianity become more extremist or has the south end always been this way? I really don't know, but I never agreed with such insanity. To me, this is the kind of thinking found more among extremist Islamic societies, not mainstream Christianity.

What could possibly be "Satanic" about Harry Potter? It quickly became obvious to me that this view was held ONLY by Christian's who had not actually read it. Obviously, this is a work of fiction--a fantasy. No one reading it would ever confuse it with reality. Why don't these Christian's also oppose the Wizard of Oz or The Chronicles of Narnia?

My favorite Halloween costume has always been a witch. I love witches, magic, and making the cackle. Note I am NOT a Wiccan, do not practice magic, and do not believe in magic. My love for ghost and witch stories has not turned me into a witch (which these particular Christian's would brand 'Satanic').

Much like Halloween, many of our Easter traditions stem from ancient pagan rituals. These rituals were practiced by the ancients who knew nothing of science. They developed complex myths to explain the world around them. These myths attempted to answer questions, such as, "Why is there death?", and, "Why didn't the crops grow?". In such a society, people make connections between events and prior actions. So, if a spouse cheats  and there's a thunderstorm afterward, the superstitious minds of the ancient people would perceive that as the wrath of a god or gods.

These societies would always be attempting to guess what the gods wanted from them to ensure their survival and happiness. Naturally, the ultimate deciders were those in authority. The practices which developed ensured the survival of the community by forging a common mindset among the people.

The ancient rituals have nothing to do with Satan, but are based on these myths. Just because these myths are disagreeable to our modern way of thinking doesn't mean that Satan inspired them. People are quite inventive on their own. This was a culture who didn't understand science and didn't have a supernatural being to guide them. These religions evolved over thousands of years as a way to explain what the ancient's didn't understand. They had no knowledge of science, so they were naturally superstitious and developed their 'theology' as a way to explain the universe. This is a well-known socio/psychological phenomenon.

This celebration preceded the resurrection of Christ. Christ did not resurrect on that day. Rather than abolish a celebration that was deeply rooted in the culture, the church decided to invade the holiday and take it over. They took old traditions and put a different spin on them. They "Christianized" them. The church redefined these symbols and rituals. Easter Sunday (or whatever you prefer to call it) NEVER had anything whatsoever to do with the resurrection.

Who cares what these rituals meant to the ancient societies? They are completely devoid of any superstition today. They have been "purified" by their association with Christ and, nowadays, secular fun. If people want to engage in innocent fun on Easter, it doesn't detract from Christ, since he has nothing whatsoever to do with in the first place. That being the case, there's no reason for hundreds of 'once a year' Christians to go to church that day.

If Santa Claus is Real, Why Not the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

A thought occurred to me tonight. Young children believe in Santa Claus. They really do! Why? Because Mommy and Daddy tell them he is real.

Why is this significant? It testifies to the malleability of a child's brain—their thoughts, attitudes and religion. Yes, religion.

A child's idea of religion comes from his/her parents. As with Santa Claus, a child will believe whatever their parents tell them is true. If you can convince a child that a fictional elf at the North Pole flies around the globe in a single night with a sleigh pulled by reindeer, then certainly you can convince them to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The National Debt , The Federal Reserve & the State of the Monetary System

I've had many conversations on Facebook about our government's spending and the indebtedness of Americans. The most common point people bring up is that the government should start spending less and reducing the debt. Unfortunately, this reflects a very superficial view of the how the economy operates. Most people think getting out of debt would solve the world's problems. The reality is no so simple to explain and I will barely scratch the surface here.

The real issue isn't what the government owes or how much money it spends. It is the fact that ALL money is created by creating debt. New money is created in the amount of the debt, but interest is still owed. Therefore, if every person & nation paid off all debt, the global economy would still be in the red by trillions, because the money to repay it doesn't exist. Even much of the debt would go unpaid as well, due to the "multiplier affect" (another topic). By design, new money—debt—must always be created so that interest can continue to be paid, ad infinitum. It's a trillion dollar Ponzi scheme conceived by a small group of influential men on Jekyll Island in 1910.

At the moment, the increased spending is keeping things somewhat stable—softening the blow for the entire world. The US dollar is the currency standard for the entire global economy, therefore, it is the US who must bear the burden of debt. Our consumer economy has created wealth (and poverty) around the globe at our own expense.

The gap between the wealthiest 10% and the rest of the world is increasing exponentially because of the debt-based system. The middle class is getting poorer and more indebted, while the rich are getting richer. This is a direct result of our debt-based economy. If you are wealthy, you have no need for debt. Instead (for example), the wealthy will put 1,000,000 in the bank to draw interest, making them even richer. Where does the money come from to pay the interest? Those of us who are not wealthy and must borrow money just to survive. When you get an auto loan, a mortgage, or a credit card, you pay interest on the debt. That interest pays the interest of the wealthy man's investment. The ones getting richer are the very same who control the global economy.

DREAM Act: We Don't Punish Children of Murderers, Why Punish Those of Immigrants?

Many children of illegal immigrants grow up to attend top colleges despite the odds stacked against them. Imagine living in fear of a knock on the door, or seeing your neighbor taken away in a raid. They lived a life of relative poverty. In many cases, they have excelled beyond that of our own children. If anyone is worthy of naturalized citizenship, it is these young Americans.

We shouldn't punish children for the so-called "crimes" of their parents. In this case, the only "crime" was the desire for a better life. How many of our ancestors risked everything to come here? What ever happened to "Give us your weak, your tired, your huddled masses"?

The US is the only home they've ever known. They live the American lifestyle, play American baseball, eat American food, hang out with American friends, and strive for the same illusion of the American Dream. They are as American as apple pie and baseball. Deporting these kids to a strange land for which they are unprepared is a gross violation of human rights—especially when they've done nothing at all to deserve it. Is our country not above that way thinking?

This Could Be You

You're an average man, with an average family and a comfortable income. You aren't extravagant and have worked hard to save money and live frugally. You have $1000 left to pay on the car and then it's yours. You have no other debt, save a credit card you pay off every month.
Then, things get bad very fast. You lose your union job due to massive cuts at the factory.  The family cuts back and lives off your wife's part time income of $600/mo. and savings. You do alright for awhile, but are totally unprepared for the events which follow.

You're full of s**t, but you're not stupid

In every culture and many households, there are words which are considered taboo. What exactly is a bad word? In some households, using exclamations such as "Oh my god!" or "Jesus Christ!" would be unthinkable. In others, you can't say pee pee. Because you have to call it something, cute ways are found to use the same word—wee wee.

In my home growing up, swearing was by no means encouraged. There was one word we were absolutely forbidden to say to anyone—stupid. In my family, calling anyone stupid was worse than telling them to go to hell. In high school, I did find a way around this using my sense of humor along with some medical terminology. I once told my younger sister that the doctor called to schedule her annual pneumoencelphalectomy. She then asked me to spell it so she could look it up! If you know medical terminology, you will be able to figure out I was cleverly calling her an airhead. How come I can say poo and crap, but not shit? Do they not mean the same thing? Perhaps instead of saying, "You're full of shit", I should say, "You full of excrement". Personally, I think the former makes the point a bit better, don't you?

Why is intercourse okay, but fucking is equivalent to a bomb? "I want to fuck you" sounds much better than "I'd like to have intercourse with you". The guy who said the former is the one I'd pick. Isn't an explosive climax better than ending it by conversing with each other?

Vagina is okay, but not pussy. If pussy meant vagina in French, would it still be a bad word?

Are these laid out in the Bible? The Koran?

What or who determines which words are acceptable and which are not?

Seriously, words are not inherently evil. Please, if you're the one who determines which words are okay, and which are not, please enlighten me as to the determining formula.

An inquiring mind wants to know—word police, clue me in!

The "Real Reason" for Unemployment: Laziness?

Today on CNN, Tom Delay had this to say about the "real reason" for the high unemployment rate:

“There is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits, keep people from going and finding jobs.

In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don’t look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out."

Candy Crowley asked: “People are unemployed because they want to be?”

Delay responded: “Well, it is the truth. And people in the real world know it.”

Delay is trying to support his argument that unemployment benefits cause laziness or apathy. Hmmm. As one of the "people in the real world", I seriously question that assessment.

Thieves Watcheth with the Dogs

"Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank, said that if a country had applied for World Bank aid during his tenure, with a financial regulatory system similar to the Federal Reserve's—in which regional Feds are partly governed by the very banks they're supposed to police—it would have raised alarms."
—Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist, Says Federal Reserve System 'Corrupt'

Stiglitz, author of Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy, has it right. You can't be a watchdog over yourself. This is a huge conflict of interest. The Federal Reserve recommended massive bail outs to the banks whose officers sit on its board of directors. I have no doubt this is just the tip of the iceberg. The real story is likely far more complicated and far deeper.

Every Man for Himself, No Matter the Cost?

Conservatives love to say they don't want to pay for the health care of another. Everyone should take care of themselves. The "every man for himself" philosophy might work well in an ideal world. In our current environment, this is an unobtainable and unrealistic goal.

"Insurance was designed to help in times of catastrophe. When we apply it to everyday health care, it becomes the catastrophe."

Crossword Solving Hacks, Part I

As a passionate crossword solver—or cruciverbalist—I am amazed by the number of people who remark how smart I must be. They are right—I do have above average intelligence—but they are wrong about the difficulty of solving a crossword puzzle.

After completing hundreds of puzzles, I have noted many common trends which making solving the puzzle much easier for those who are aware of them. I have decided to post a series of articles that will help you look like a genius to your friends who don't are unaware of the tricks of the trade. If you follow these tips, you will be on your way to becoming a highly regarded cruciverbalist.

The clues provided here are deliberately easy with obvious answers, such as you'd find in the easiest of puzzles. Many of these examples are taken directly from puzzles I have solved. You will notice that most of the hacks covered related to finding clues hidden in the clues themselves. If you understand that, you already know the biggest secret of successful solvers.

Why Lawmakers Won't Fix the Economy . . . and How to Prepare for Coming Collapse

Few realize that the rising deficit and decrease in production are by design. Politic decisions are influenced by central bankers to an extreme, even godlike, degree. In order for a state in increase it's capital account, it must create debt and outsource production. In addition, every time a new consumer or mortgage loan originates, new money—debt—is created.

Wealth is an illusion. Truth wealth is complete ownership of an asset. A homeowner does not own their home as long as there is a mortgage. That mortgage is considered an asset by the bank, even though the loaned money did not even exist prior to the mortgage being created.

According to economist Peter Schiff, who predicted the current crisis years before it happened, "Our government for many years has been successful at hiding the problem and buying time". (Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse). Why hide the problem? Why "buy time"?

The Story of Noah's Ark

I don't normally like to post 3 videos in a row, but this one says everything I wanted to include in a blog entry. He exposes some critical scientific facts about the possibility & consequences of a worldwide flood. If you are not a scientist of a particular field of study, you probably don't know that if it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, the chemical reaction would cause all life in the sea to perish. It is also discusses the biggest problem I have with the whole ark story: Inbreeding. A brilliant piece by TheThinkingAtheist.

Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot: A beautiful Carl Sagan classic.

A Letter to Strict Tithe Payers

When you accept a mortgage loan, utility service, or other obligation, you are bound by God to meet your obligation. It is a contract. To not live up to the contract is dishonest. If you want a service or asset, you must pay for it.

If you choose to donate ten percent to your church when you cannot meet your contractual obligations, the result is deliberate dishonesty, because you deliberately choose to donate rather than live up to your contractual promise. When you deliberately break a promise, that is sin! To say otherwise is to say that God allows sin in order to support his church operations. So, in essence, you are saying it is okay to break a legal contract in order to make a voluntary payment. You are defaulting on your word, so your word means nothing.

Imagine

A brilliant piece by John Lennon! A classic favorite.

Perhaps if the world were like that he imagined, he would not have been killed.

From his 1971 album, Imagine.

	John Lennon - Imagine .mp3
	;

Download the Imagine single

Facts Of Evolution: Universal Common Descent - The Best of Science

Why the US is Not a Free Market

Lawmakers in Congress receive significant rewards from corporate lobbyists. Big corporations and industries spend big bucks wooing our representatives. The goal of these lobbyists is to convince Congress to enact laws which are favorable to the them. The lobbyist will court lawmakers with fancy charts summarizing various statistics which support their case. Of course, such statistics are biased to favor the industry in question.

In addition to official corporate lobbies, there are non-profit organizations pleading for support. We must avoid judging these groups without first doing our research. Many of these "non-profit" organizations are funded by commercial enterprises. This gives the illusion of an independent lobby, when in fact it quite biased.

Here are some clear examples (just to name a few) of how US corporate interests have been able to usurp monopoly regulations. As a result, the free market has become so eroded it can no longer function properly.

Why the Fed and the free Market Are Incompatible

Since the before the bank bailouts, I have been studying to understand the myriad of conflicting info. It's complicated. Both government regulation & deregulation have contributed, along with utter irresponsibility of wall street. It seems clear now that the biggest contributor to this whole economic mess is the Fed itself. The private Federal Reserve Bank is the sole determinant of monetary policy and its actions require no approval from Congress. Congress members do not understand the complicated workings of the money system. Therefore, they look to the Fed and it's advice as the best course of action. When a bill is needed, Congress generally does what the Fed wants (though they try to give the appearance of listening to their constituents at home). In addition, the Fed acts on its own to bailout banks for pennies on the dollar, etc. without any discussion with congress.

Sheep

The shepherd keeps the flock together. He watches for the sheep that go astray and quickly brings them back into the fold. When the wool gets too long, the shepherd will shear it. The sheep cannot choose the length of their wool. The sheep will go along with anything the shepherd demands, and do not question the shepherd. The shepherd brings them security. They know if they follow him, they will be taken care of. The sheep will continue follow the herd even when the shepherd is away.

Out of Thin Air

"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes its laws." ~ Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Imagine you were given the ability to create money out of thin air. To increase your assets, you need only key in an imaginary deposit. Now, suppose you were the only person granted this authority. In order for anyone else to get money, they must borrow it. So you create money out of nothing and lend it out at interest. The entire economy is based on debt owed to you, from money you created out of thin air. You are now the most powerful person in the world, wielding the power of a God. Governments bow to you.

The Evolution of Christianity

When I was growing up, Christianity was a much different creature than today. Today's brand of Christianity has become increasingly fundamentalist in nature. This is a disturbing trend, and—I'll admit—has drawn me away from many Christian individuals and organizations. Christians are increasingly becoming mindless, intolerant ideologues. They don't seem to question what they hear on Faux News. They supported George W. Bush long after the facts were revealed (before his re-election in 2004). They rarely speak up when Pat Robertson calls the an entire culture "evil" and deserving the wrath of God.

The Bible Without Adam & Eve

The scientific facts supporting evolution are overwhelming. Proponents of intelligent design tend to distort/misunderstand the facts, and make reference to rumors which have long ago been debunked in an attempt to refute the evidence. This is understandable when you consider that, should evolution become accepted as fact, the consequences to the religious community will be nothing short of devastating. Darwin's On the Origin of Species threatens the very fabric of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.