Hell yeah I'm smarter than a fifth grader.

Admittedly, I don't watch much tv. I don't own one, so it is a bit harder given that. The only tv I watch is whatever is on whenever I'm over at someone else's house. I see movies fairly often, but I really don't see "regular" tv programming on network tv that much. Most big shows that the peeps are discussing are shows I've never ever seen. Because of this, I feel like I'm viewing this aspect of the culture from a distance.

Right about the time I got rid of my tv, "who wants to be a millionaire?" had just come out and was this huge new sensation unlike any other show. Much like the rest of life, it seems as though a great idea or formula is molested and raped and left for dead. I happened to see "are you smarter than a fifth grader?" tonight. Almost the same exact premise as the other. Like 10 or 15 trivia questions with 3 life lines or cheats in order to win a million bucks. This seemed to have a " let's make a deal" vibe with it as well as there was this guy that was the supposed number one Celtics fan and was wearing a Celtics jersey. There were also the Celtics cheerleaders that were participating. Jeff Foxworthy was giving his best Regis Philbin schtick and trying to painfully create undue tension building up to whether or not the contestant got the question right.

Aside from the complete ripoff that this show is, it seems so depressing that people would be hardcore enthusiastic about people competing to "be smarter than a fifth grader." Of course, the peeps are going for the million, but the underlying ( or more really glaring) premise is exploiting just how stupid the American public is. The problem is that yes, it is pointing out that there is a deficiency in knowledge going around, however this show basically celebrates it. The worst part is that the whole thing really isn't true. The questions that they are asking are NOT on the level that they say they are. Like one question about what year Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" was written? A fifth grader would absolutely not know that. Load of crap. But, if you really used fifth grade questions, you would not have a show. I reckon the peeps watching the show get to feel good about themselves because they might know questions that the others don't. Peeps feel like " at least I'm smarter than that guy". There was one contestant "Miss Plus America" who was apparently an overweight beauty queen. (I don't even want to know why there is a "Miss Plus America BBW beauty pageant".) Her first question for $1000 was "True or False, the sum of the digits of the number 768is 22?" She said true, however the sum is 21. wow. I bet that made a lot of peeps feel like superman. I'm sure there was something else on another channel that was more worth watching that this ilk. Probably PBS or the discovery channel or something but I get the feeling that more people are watching "are you smarter than a fifth grader."

I try not to be judgemental about the whole thing. I feel like it is more a symptom of the bigger problem. Unfortunately, the problem is multipronged and difficult to even define. Yes, peeps definitely appear to be intellectually declining in the last few decades. There have been studies done and many articles written, but that doesn't fix the problem. They (those people, whoever they are) blame it on tv, video games, the internets, etc.... And it is probably all true. The problem is that few peeps offer any solution at all. It's kinda like someone pointing out that the roof is leaking and then not offering any solution. "hey everybody, the roof is leaking, I just thought you should know." Great, what do we do about it? How do you inspire someone to give a shit? No really, I'd like to know. I personally feel that humanity as a whole is very intertwined whether we like it or not, and therefore this kind of crap somehow someway represents the society that I am a part of. There is a part of me though that feels like King Solomon who was like "you fools, get some wisdom for yourselves." I'm not saying that is the most productive perspective, but I understand it.

The Nuge

I happened to catch Ted Nugent on Glenn Beck's show last night. Here in Detroit, you usually hear something every once in a while about The Nuge whether it's a news article or whatever. For me, I guess I've only paid slight attention simply because I'm not that fond of his music. I remember a while back when he owned or ran 102.7 The Bear and he was on the radio all the time. The station format wasn't my gig and I can't say that I ever listened to it. From the people I have talked to though, apparently he talked quite freely about his positions on various matters.

Obviously, The Nuge is quite known for his hunting persona as well as his music. I was not all that aware though of his political and philosophical beliefs. After watching the whole show, I gotta say that I really agree with him on a lot of issues. I still don't like his music, but I think that he has a great perspective on life and I appreciate that he has made use of his celebrity status to actually make a positive impact and give back to society. I really dig his perspective on personal responsibility. You really don't hear very many people these days talking openly about that because it encompasses so many facets of life. Often people seem to have success in one area of life with personal responsibility yet, fail miserably in others and so rather than bring riducule upon themselves, it just isn't mentioned. Unfortunately, when things fail to be mentioned, they tend to be forgotten. Not that I think The Nuge has it all down either. But regardless of anyone's performance, I believe the only person in life you can control ( and just barely) is yourself. It seems though that perspective is not very popular, or if it is, it's not advertised much at all.

I was quite surprised to see this interview on at like 7pm, which seems like almost prime time to me. Interestingly, the channel right before it had Lou Dobbs talking about his great distaste with the bail out and how this country is looking more socialist all the time. I couldn't quite believe that either of these shows would be allowed to air given the level of media censorship that I know to exist. hmmmm. Watch all of the parts of The Nuge interview if you can.

Rally For The Republic

So I headed out last weekend with Joe and Christe to the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis. It was actually a three day event as there were other gatherings on the two preceding days. Based upon what I saw there, Ron Paul ain't playing around. The new organization named Campaign For Liberty seems to be pretty well thought through. I would say that right now, it feels like a political action committee with grassroots representation, although I could see it easily turning into a full fledged political party if that was the desire. One thing is definitely for sure, neither Ron Paul nor his peeps have any intentions of going away any time soon. Dare I say that they are just getting warmed up.

Through a couple chance circumstances, I actually found myself backstage at the Rally For the Republic. Of all the people that I met, I gotta say that I think Jesse Ventura is my favorite. While Ron Paul is certainly great, I feel like he still is playing inside the box so to speak. He is pushing the boundaries, but he still has every intention of sticking with the Republican party and reforming it. He appears to be trying to make gradual changes from inside. Jesse Ventura on the other hand, wants nothing to do with either the democrats or republicans. He is all about a third, or fourth or however many parties. He also comes right out and says whatever he wants. Compared to Ron Paul, he is a bull in a china shop. He doesn't care if you like what he says or not. He believes it to be true and he makes no apologies. I just gotta love him for that. Ron Paul probably has a way better strateegery than Jesse Ventura but he gets big points for boldness. Here is a link to Jesse's speech.

On a semi related note, Rage Against The Machine was playing the Target Center the very next night. I was snooping around and I found this on you tube.

Do you want a bike?

A friend of mine asked me a couple months back " hey, do you want a bike?" Usually whenever anyone asks this, they are referring to some rusty POS that is in their garage that hasn't been ridden in 15 years. My instinct therefore, is to immediately say no simply because I don't need anymore garbage to deal with. Not to mention the fact that most bikes are way too small for me. You know, the circus with the guys riding those tiny little bikes. Yeah, something like that.

He assured me that it was none of the above and that I might actually like it. Which seemed kind of fishy because if it was decent, why would someone be giving it away? It turns out this bike is gigantic like me. It is an XL frame size and I have a hard time getting my leg over the frame (first time ever). If you're not 6'4" or bigger, this is definitely not your bike, which is why he was giving it away ( to me specifically) because not just anyone could ride it. In one of the few instances I can ever recall, I actually was able to use some secondhand gift because it was the right size for me.

So I picked up the bike, and it was sweet! Hands down the best bike I've ever owned. I can still hardly believe it. It really does fit me and I don't have any of the common issues that I used to have with bikes such as back pain. I've been inspired lately to ride places that I never would have considered riding before. I've also been googlin bike stuff and I found this one guy who contends that travel by bike is just as fast as car. He says the problem is the overall average speed for a car is quite low due to the frequent stops and starts. When you ride a bike, the speed is considerably more constant because you can take routes that aren't as busy with traffic and stops, which gives a relatively high average speed.

I decided to give this a test drive just for fun, and it is quite true. It might not be as fast or faster, but I would say no less than 50%. And it might even be closer to 100%. I am amazed at how quick you can get somewhere on a good bike. And you get the benefit of no traffic ( or little traffic), a great little workout, and no money for gas. Riding a bike is like driving a convertible with the top down. You can see everything. It's quite enjoyable actually. And if you ever got some road rage while riding, you could just take it out by pedaling harder. I think I will try to make short trips (less than 2 miles) on the bike just because it seems like it's working for me.

I also ran across this page as well. I don't know who this guy is but, he appears to be some sort of bike aficionado. He has this page of Detroit graffiti that he has discovered, presumably by biking. Which is an interesting point of this whole thing. I've seen a fair amount of the stuff that he has photographed just by driving around the city, but there is some other stuff that is stated to be at locations that I know well, yet I've never seen.

Which would indicate that maybe there is something to be said for biking. I know that with cars, it is sometimes a pain to find a place to park or pull off. With a bike you can go almost anywhere and get inbetween stuff that cars just can't. You can take vastly different routes which obviously yields a different experience. I'm hoping to see things from a different perspective riding two wheels intead of four.

Snickers

For the last year I've been working on getting in shape, which for me means building muscle. In order to do that, you have to eat more calories than you burn to add mass to your body. This has translated into eating at least 5 meals a day at 600 calories or more for me. I'm a very busy person, so stopping to eat is like the last thing I want to do. So in an effort to eat more calories even when I don't feel like it, I've ended up sometimes eating junk food; specifically Snickers King Size which is 500 calories a bar. Yeah, I know that I shouldn't be eating crap like that to be healthy but when you're in a calorie deficit, you do what you have to do.

After sucking down a few Snickers here and there, I can honestly say that they don't taste like I remember them tasting. When I was a kid, Snickers was my poison of choice and I knew it well. I remember them being more peanutty than they seem to be today. I stopped eating candy bars long ago and have only picked them up again recently because of the calorie deal. I would say that there was a good 15 year hiatus from Snickers for me. And now that I'm back, I really think that at sometime they changed the formula. But this is the clincher, how could one really know if they did or not?

Before I suggest though that they did indeed change, I recognize that there is a very real possibility that my taste buds have changed. I mean between all of the scalding coffee and tea, there is a good chance that I have some permanent damage to my tongue. I've never heard of that, but it seems reasonable to me. However, other stuff still tastes the same as before so I'm not entirely sold on the idea.

So the question is, did they change Snickers or not? The reason I say that one may never know is because unless you eat it all the time, you wouldn't necessarily catch it. If you eat a Snickers a couple times a year, you probably might think that you just got a bad bar if it tasted different than you remember. Only the regulars would know for sure that it changed, and even then, would they be vocal enough to get them to change back. It obviously worked like that for Coke, but lots of people drink Coke. Are there enough people that eat Snickers regularly to notice the difference and then make a stink because they changed the recipe? I think a big factor is the fact that food in general is perishable. You can't hold on to a Snickers bar from 1985 and then compare it to one today. That's why I say it is almost impossible to really know. Also, they might be changing the formula just a little bit at a time and gradually you wouldn't notice as it changed. It's like the company that shaves an ounce off of the cereal box or the can or whatever and they are betting that you won't notice. Maybe they are changing the formula ever so slightly and betting that the peeps won't notice. Unless you had confirmation by someone at the company I think you would never know for sure. I don't like the thought of that.

I challenge you to do this. Go buy some Welch's grape juice as well as some organic pure concord grape juice, (you pick the brand.) The organic stuff is going to be way more expensive, but buy them both and then go home and try them. The organic pure grape juice is almost like non alcoholic red wine in flavor and appearance. The Welch's looks and tastes like grape drink/aid/purple stuff in comparison to the organic stuff. I bet though, that at one time, way back in the day, Welch's stuff was probably just like the organic stuff now. They just cheapened it up along they way and now peeps don't know any better unless they compare grapes to grapes.

I'm just saying.

Name calling

I like to name things. Not because I like name calling, but because I think that everything is unique. No two things on earth are exactly the same and so therefore they are indeed unique. Specifically though, I name things that I have multiples of like tape measures and utility knives. I buy multiples because I like to always have them handy and I usually buy the same kind because I find the one I like and I stick with it. Therefore, I name things literally to keep track of them and know which one I was using. I usually just pick some random but unusual name like Herbert or Gertrude or Francis or Beauregard. Sometimes if I purchase multiples at the same time and I know there will be 3 or 4 or 5 or whatever, I will pick something that has that number like the beatles (4) or whatever.

I've noticed something though. Once you give something a name, it kind of takes on a life of its own. Like it begins to have a personality, a history. It somehow takes on more meaning that before it had a name. It would be like naming your guitars (which surprisingly I don't do), or your gun or something like that. Even though it's just a utility knife, you know that "Stella" is the good one that works great and "Buford" seems to stick a little bit and needs some wd40 often. When you pick up "Stella" you get this warm feeling that this is the knife that will work perfect for that special project where you can't make mistakes. You almost feel an obligation to treat them better when they have names simply because you remember when they worked for you and you want that to continue.

Interestingly enough, I've found that the converse is also true. That human beings that truly are unique require the same attention. But, once you strip people of their personality and their identity they seem to be less human. Take away someone's name and give them a number and then treat them like the number that they are. You will see a big change in peoples' reaction and view of themselves. It is dehumanizing, literally. Treat someone like they are disposable like that utitlilty knife with no name and see how well they work for you. Like you can buy them for a $1 a dozen at walmart and throw them out when you're done.

A utility knife is a utility knife whether it has a name or not. The only thing the name does is inspire me to take better care of it.

071208 DC March

So I made a trip this weekend to Washington DC for the "Ron Paul Revolution March". I've never been to DC so it was interesting to see some place new. The rally started with a march down Constitution Ave. and ended up on the lawn of the capitol building. I would say that there were about 10,000 people there, give or take. The crowd was fairly well represented with all kinds of peeps, but I would say that there may have been a higher concentration of peeps that are slightly rougher around the edges. Not too many 3 piece suits, although I did see one guy in a suit with some radios tucked inside the back of his pants. This didn't really suprise me because change always starts on the fringes of society and makes its way inward. (You can tell when something is finally embraced by the late adopters when you can buy a POS knock off of the real thing at Walmart for unsustainably cheap prices.) I felt like I was in good company as a person who dances on the fringe of society as well.

There were a lot of speakers, some of which I have either read or heard about. The content was familiar although some was new or updated since previous events. The thing I enjoyed the most though, is that all of these people who essentially didn't know each other happened to find their way to DC on this day. The info regarding the time, place, content, etc... was not widely publicized by any major media outlet, (actually probably ignored) yet 10,000 peeps found their way to DC. Of course this was mostly due to the interweb, but never the less peeps made their way. If you'd have asked me 10 years ago do I think that I'm an activist, I would have definitely said no. I thought then and would still say that society in general looks down on activists in an unspoken way. Like somehow they are F'd up nut job wackos because they are willing to act upon that which they believe. Which is complete irony because the most "successful" or "effective" peeps are the ones that act on things. In fact it is Stephen Covey's first habit of highly effective people. Be proactive. So there were 10,000 people being proactive for the cause of freedom and liberty in America. I would say that I still don't think of myself as an activist. I simply think of myself as someone that acts upon that which they believe.

The thing I don't get is how people continually enjoy complaining about things rather than actually doing something about it. It is like it's part of their identity. If they didn't have anything to complain about, they wouldn't know what to say. Like the concept of being happy is unattainable. No matter what happens, something will be bad about it. Almost everyone I know, has at least some grievance with the way that this country is run, yet most do nothing about changing it or fixing it. Maybe the whole proactive thing scares people to death. We waste so much time doing BS that totally doesn't matter and yet we still somehow can't find the time to really make a difference. We can find time to forward a stupid email from whoever to 5 people in the next 10 minutes and your dreams will come true (which you know is BS), but we can't send a 5 minute email to our elected officials who actually run the country stating our deep dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, the economy, civil liberties, etc.... Maybe peeps just don't realize how easy it is these days to contact their elected officials. You can email or call and the email addresses and phone numbers are right on the web. In fact, most people don't even pay for long distance anymore so that is a moot point.

I know you care about something, anything. It might be the whales, the manatees, the economy, Real ID, the NAU, the environment, nuclear power, .... whatever. Here is your personal invitation; find your representatives email addresses and email them about the thing that you care about. Ask them what they are doing about it and what they plan to do about it in the future. That is the warm up. Now you will have their email addresses in your address book so when you hear some really crazy shit that is going down, you get on the ole interweb and you email them about that too. It's their job to represent you. Make them work for it. You would want to find your:

US Representative
US Senator
State Representative
State Senator
City Mayor
City Council Members

Now really do it. Go ahead, I triple dog dare you.

Soft Drinks

I stumbled across a map of "Generic Names For Soft Drinks" today as I was surfing ye olde interweb. This map is a product of our newly data obsessed culture. I'm sure these statistics haven't changed much in the last 20 years, but our ability to collect them has gotten much easier, so here you go. Because you've always wondered, and now you can know. Here in Detroit, pop is definitely what you call soft drinks.

I still think it would be a little weird for someone to ask me "what kind of coke you want?" Would you say pepsi coke? sprite coke? coke coke? I guess it's no different than "what kind of jacuzzi did you buy?" No wonder Faygo doesn't do well outside of michigan. People from the south would think "what the hell is Red Pop? oh, you mean Red Coke. " I guess the real question is what do the people in the "other" category call pop/soda/coke? There seem to be some states where it varies by county. In one county it's pop, in another it's soda or coke. That would kinda be like living on the edge of a time zone.

I am happy to see that even in this mass marketed corporate oblivion that we call America, that there is still some regional distinction.

Double edged sword

So I read this article this week entitled "The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete". The author essentially is saying that the age of hypothesizing and experimenting and the development of theories is over. Given the abilities of computers to collect and manipulate data, there is no point in attempting to theorize such things because you can just collect the data and then let supercomputers crunch some numbers and determine any correlations.

That idea is part of a greater philosophy that is quite popular today which I think is detrimental to humanity as a whole.

It's a little more obvious on a smaller, more personal level. Dave and Chuck the freak were talking today about this as well in regard to cell phones and navigation units. It was noted that cell phones basically have made people somewhat stupid, myself included. Upon meeting someone new, most peeps just enter a new phone number and name into their phone and then they forget about it. Whenever a call is received or placed, that person's name is referenced instead of the number. The result is that we never see the phone numbers anymore and therefore, have no idea what they are. That's fine as long as you have your phone that has power. Once you lose your phone or lose power, you have no more numbers. In an emergency, you may not know any phone numbers to call including those of the people you talk to everyday. The point is that the reliance on technology can easily become a huge weakness that may ultimately do us in. It's the same with the nav units. People already have forgotten map reading skills, which weren't all that popular anyway. The irony is that nav units that I've seen, aren't all that reliable. I have personally experienced a nav unit that somehow reverted back to another destination and was completely misdirecting the car. It seems that there just is no substitute for human understanding and knowledge. A machine simply takes inputs and gives outputs and it can't tell you whether the outputs make any sense.

So back to the scientific method. If it's obvious to see that tecnology may be creating mental weaknesses in the average person through everyday experiences, I would say that the scientific research peeps are not immune to it either. It seems as though the new science is to just put sensors on everything and collect the data and then crunch it. The problem is that sensors are only as good as their placement. Also, how do you know if you are collecting enough data to make an accurate picture?

I think about Isaac Newton coming up with his theories and equations in the 1600's when there were no calculators or computers to do the math. It seems to me that somehow peeps were smarter in past centuries than we are now. I don't know very many peeps that could do that kind of math on their own without calculators, much less come up the equations and relationships of how it all works. It seems like the scientists are getting used to the cell phone phenomenon and are taking it to the next level. It just feels like you can tell that we are suffering from the technology rather than benefitting from it. I don't feel very warm and fuzzy about the fact that the leaders in the scientific communities are taking their cues from the average joe who doesn't even know his best friend's phone number.

I'm just saying.

Daddy needs new shoes

I was talking the other day with one of the guys that runs the party store down on the corner. He was telling me about this company called Ecolution that makes hemp products. They're based in Romania and apparently they are unionized. He was telling me that he was looking to buy some shoes from this place because he wanted his next shoes to be union made. He said that he wouldn't buy a new pair of shoes until he found some that were union made. He said that he'd been looking for some time and this was the only thing he has come up with. I didn't realize it at the time, but I really had no appreciation for what he was saying. I've heard people talk about buying stuff union made before. I've known people that did go out of their way to find stuff that was union made, or made in usa, or whatever. I myself go out of my way to buy stuff made in usa, but I still didn't have the appreciation for what he was talking about.

And then he shows me his shoes.

So he's got this fairly big hole in the bottom of his shoe. When he said that he was waiting to find some union made shoes, I didn't even think that there might be some sense of urgency to find a new pair. I remember as a kid wearing out shoes like that, but hey I was a kid. I haven't worn out a pair of shoes like that in a long time. It didn't even cross my mind that his shoes would be that worn. The day that we had this conversation it was raining quite a bit. I asked him if his feet got wet and he said "yes but I just walk around the puddles". I would like to think that I make decisions that are consistent with what I believe, but I don't know that I've held out like that before. I guess he's been looking for shoes for a while and he still won't buy a pair even though he needs them. When I think about somebody willing to hold out on new shoes because of their principles, even if it means cold wet feet when it rains, it inspires me to do the same. You don't meet too many people like that these days.

Living in luxury

I went last night to see The Swell Season at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. If you're not familiar, The Swell Season is the name used by Glen Hansard and Marketa Iraglova from the movie Once. They were also joined by Glen's other band, The Frames, as back up. They were great. Not one bad note by anyone. You had Glen belting out those screams where you stop for a second and wonder "is he still singing, or just screaming in key?" The kind that make you feel the pain that he feels, like you're the one living it too. He also was delivering some storyteller commentary in between songs that sounded awesome in a thick Irish accent. The movie was good, but there is nothing liking seeing things with your own eyes and live interaction. Which brings me to the next point....

Before the show, a waitress selling giant cans of Bud Light comes by and wants to know if I want anything. I ask what beers they have and how much they are. She tells me that the regular beers are $5 and that big swill they call Bud is $8. I remark somewhat jokingly that $5 for a beer is highway robbery, to which she replies " well you know going out is a luxury."

A luxury eh. 60 years ago, before tv, they called going out to see live entertainment just entertainment. kinda like we call tv or movies today. That's all there was. So now, seeing someone live in person is a luxury. I'm just curious, will it soon be a luxury to see a live person at a bank, a store, on a phone? Will the people really buy into this BS? The state of Michigan tried pulling this a year ago by putting a tax on all ticketable events, saying it was a luxury as well. That would have included movie theatres. movie theatres? a luxury? so basically the only thing that isn't a luxury is staying in your house and watching your damn idiot box. Apparently there was enough outrage because the state legislature decided to not do it. for now. If you ask me, I'm done with seeing things on tv or online. I want to see it in person. I want to see the real deal, living, breathing, mistakes and all. I want to smell the air, feel the thump in my chest, hear the roar of the crowd. you can't replace it. it's an experience, as life should be not some imitation virtual reality.

3EE U44

I witnessed an accident yesterday. I was sitting at a stop sign on the 75 service drive at John R when out of the corner of my eye, a burgundy 90's Ford Explorer t boned a gold Pontiac Grand AM. It wasn't life threatening or anything, but it did cause a fair amount of damage to the Grand AM. I would venture to say that the passengers door probably wouldn't open afterward. It's the kind of accident that would probably ruin your week or maybe even month. It appeared that everyone was alright so I drove off.

I was stopped at the next light like 100 yards ahead when I see the burgundy Explorer just drive around the Grand AM and is approaching the light right next to me. That bastard! a hit and run. I made sure to the get the license plate as it drove by 3EE U44 and I quickly found something to write it on. As I continued driving, I thought to myself that I need to call the police as soon as I get home. Then it occurred to me, this is Detroit. No one makes police reports in Detroit because it's pointless. It takes 2 hours to get a cop to show up and then it's more hassle than it's worth to make the report. I've never filed a police report for any accidents in the city of Detroit (I've been in 3) for that reason. I'm quite sure the gold Grand AM did not file a police report.

So then I thought, maybe I should go back and find the gold Grand AM and give them the info. But why? In the state of michigan, a person can only get $500 from another driver who hits their car. Michigan is a no fault auto insurance state. It's your insurance that pays for the repairs on your car. Yeah I suppose that they could have gotten the $500 but then they would have to make a police report and it's back to square one.

It's a load of crap that you can't get justice because of the system. It's also a shame that people have zero sense of personal responsibility anymore.

Screw you 3EE U44! you dirty bastard without a conscience.

Belts for belts

So often it's hard to compare apples and apples especially over time. I happened to have the opportunity today.

So my belt broke. I don't know how long I've had it but it's probably 3-4 years. Maybe more. I'm not quite sure why I remember, but I went back to the same exact Sears store that I bought the last one. When I got there, I found the exact same belt as the one that broke. Like what were the odds on that? Stuff usually changes from season to season, much less year to year. But 3-4 years later? the same belt? I looked at all of the belts looking for where they were made and they were all made in China. Surprise, surprise. I decided to just get it anyway because I needed a belt.

So I get home and compare it to the old one and it's exactly the same design. It's not quite the same though, cause the new one is really stiff and the old one is nice and flexible. I remember the old one always being quite flexible though. So the new one is not quite as good as the old one.

But here is the spin, they both cost $20. If the new one is made in China, I know damn well that they made it for AT LEAST half the cost of the old one that was made in USA. Probably way less than half. So why the hell did I pay $20 for the cheap china brand garbage when I paid $20 for the one made in USA with italian leather? I understand why people go to the dollar stores trying to save money and buy the cheap china brand stuff so they can save a buck. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. The thing that really pisses me off is when the companies outsource things to china and then STILL CHARGE the same amount as if it was made here in USA. The peeps of America and elsewhere are getting hosed and it is BS. That's deceit and fraud and any company that tries to pull a fast one on the consumer should be punished by the market. Please vote with your dollars and not buy china brand garbage. I think I'm going to hunt down a made in USA black belt just for spite now.

inside out

I saw a lock today at the gym. It stuck out like a sore thumb because it had green sparkle paint on it. I walked over to check it out and I saw this fake gold plate on it that proudly displayed "made in china". The lock itself was kind of under built as compared to the other locks that were on the lockers. All politics aside, I don't think you would want a "made in china" label on display to the rest of the world on the $1 lock that might be securing a $250 cell phone and the $100 that might be in your pocket. Not that it necessarily matters I guess because people just throw their stuff in a locker without any lock at all and I never hear peeps complaining that their stuff got ripped off. To me, if you're going to buy a lock at all, you may as well get one that would actually do the job if you needed it to. Or at least turn the label to the inside so that peeps can't openly see that it's made in china. I'm just saying.

mr. two hearted ale

I just spent a half hour talking to the owner of the party store at the end of my street. This is my party store because it's within walking distance of my house and they have Bell's Two Hearted Ale, my new favorite beer. These days, this is somewhat rare because the majority of the places that you shop are corporate subsidiaries of some sort and have high turnover. It's rare to even find the same person working in the same store for more than a year. I can only think of a handful of places where that aint the case.

Anyway, we talked about beer, wine, America, Ron Paul, etc. The half hour felt like 5 minutes as it usually does. I was reminded all over again how great it is to be a regular anywhere. Where you walk in and they know what you want without even asking. Where the beer is in front of your stool before you can even sit down. Whether he knows it or not, he has a unique edge on the competition. As a business owner, he can get to know his customers and tailor his business to their desires. He will be around long after the guy at Rite Aid who says "I'm sorry sir we don't have Bell's Two Hearted Ale" has quit and moved on to greener pastures. Also he has the ability to openly support any cause that he deems worthy. He can display whatever info he wants in his store as long as it is legal and he doesn't have to check with "corporate" to see if that's ok.

It's a shame that peeps don't value mom and pop stores anymore. Their contributions to society are much more than selling their wares.

Out Of Hand

Alright, this is getting out of hand. It seems like they, "those people" whoever they are, feel that society needs more media. As if we weren't bombarded enough with tv, billboards, radio, online ads, buses, etc. they have now decided that we need tv advertisements at the gas pump. I saw one a while back and blew it off, but more just keep popping up. Does society not have the attention span to pump a tank of gas? What the hell? Or do they need just one more opportunity to sell you a Dodge? Print ads are one thing because you don't have to look but video sucks because you can't plug your ears. I will boycott every damn video gas station I see and if it means that I have to drive out of my way to get a little piece of mind while pumping my gas, then so be it.

the story of stuff

Somebody sent me a link to a video called the story of stuff. It's about the life cycle of 'stuff' that we buy and consume. The premise of the video is that the classical text book diagram of how society takes raw materials and turns them into goods and then ultimately dumps it in the trash is not telling the whole story. The idea is that the classical diagram doesn't take into account the fact that the earth and its resources are finite and that it is a closed loop system. They reference the idea that the total cost of manufacture of an item is not represented by the purchase price due to externalized costs. This is the first time I've ever come across this idea from someone else although I've thought about it many times myself. I've never been able to put it into words as well as the video does.

The idea that the total costs are not being counted makes a lot of sense to me. This is the very reason why when the dvd player, radio, tv, microwave, etc. breaks, ( or we just get tired of it) we pitch it instead of trying to fix it. I am well aware that the labor costs are what cause people to trash stuff instead of fixing it. Why spend $100 on parts and labor to fix the old one when the new one is $110. But the point is that the new one should really cost much more than $110 if the total costs were fully counted. If the new one were $500, or even $200 people would consider repairing the old instead of just buying new.

I'm putting up a picture of my cell phone. I've taken a lot of heat for owning such an old, beat up, BIG phone. The original kung fu grip has worn off and it has a green screen. I want to say that it's at least 4 years old, maybe 5 which is like 2.5 lifetimes in cell phone years. I just can't seem to get rid of it though cause IT STILL WORKS. Only recently have the keys started sticking which is a pain when checking the voicemail, but other than that, it's great. Oh, I replaced the battery too.

Check out the video and see what you think.

Ben

So I'm reading the autobiography of Ben Franklin. Some interesting things to note:

- Ben started as a printer apprentice when he was 12.

- Ben literally ran away to Philadelphia when he was 17. He knew nobody and found a job and a place to stay all on his own.

- Ben lived to be 84 years old. Kinda contrary to the idea that people died younger back then.

pheNOMenal

Have you ever met someone who uses the word phenomenal? Every once in a while I will run into someone who uses it, but I'm not just talking about saying " phenomenal".

1. As they say it, they bob their head back and then forward, and then usually end up with it tilted a little to one side.
2. Their eyes are usually really wide open and there is an accent on NOM in "phe-NOM-en-al".
3. It seems like it's usually used in reference to their favorite Italian restaurant or some steak house.
4. It sometimes may be accompanied with some hand gestures for emphasis.

I'm not sure why, but this really sticks out to me. Once someone does it, I have a hard time paying attention to the rest of the conversation. I guess I just focus on the phenomenal. I'm just sayin.

The Sauna

I started going to the sauna at the gym when I started physical therapy for my shoulder in June. I read somewhere that the sauna helps stimulate healing and I had plenty of time so why not. It took some getting used to at first but I really dig it now.

The sauna is one of the only places I know of in society today where people gather around without cell phones, tv, computers, (any technology really) and just sit. All there is to do is sit back and relax and talk. I have had some very interesting conversations in the sauna. I don’t know if it’s because the sauna attracts a certain kind of person or what. I’ve literally had to cut off some conversations because I was in there too long and I was beginning to cook. Maybe it’s the heat that gets people all energized and ready to go. The weird part is that everyone is sweating all over the place and half naked, and no one seems to mind.