Unfulfilled Desires of Having been Stuck with Myself and My Distrust

Participation in a narrative is the essence of truth.. Participation is the essence of value.. I had told Paul that I did not feel guilty about hanging out here in the coffee shop all day and only buying a single cup of coffee because my participation added value to this place – made it look busier, more active, live – and hence drew in even more customers. I was adding to the cash flow even if I was not digging down into my own pockets (I was not just another freeloader). But I explained, I did not do this if the place was packed for then my participation was not value enhancing. Yeah, he said, I know what you mean. I went by a restaurant down in Morales (Mexico) and there was never anyone in there eating. I never went in. They may have other sources of cash flow, perhaps in the back room, I said. Given where it was I have not doubt, he replied. We participate to the extent of our means and the value gained. And Tiger Woods continues to dominate the public space. I claimed the New Coke and Classic Coke had everything that a good marketing campaign should contain – a public outcry for a product, lots of free publicity, and a corporation that was willing to listen to its customers – it made such a great story - but I am unable to believe that marketers are that cunning – maybe they got lucky – maybe there is something in the narrative that is addictive. The narrative that wins out is the narrative that has garnered the participation – this is democracy in action.

I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way [marrying an interracial couple]. I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom – Louisiana justice of the peace, Keith Bardwell

Factoid: 60% of Americans want a public health care option (86% of Democrats, 57% of independents, and 33% of Republicans), but only 11.6% of them strongly agree that there will better quality heath care within the next 12 months (35% strongly disagree and 29.9% are unsure)

Look for the invisible
Listen for the unsaid
What is it that has not happened?
Become cognizant of the over looked
Do your due diligence

Technical civilization and the human mind that supports it, are the first feeble stirring of a radically new form of existence, one as different from life as life is from simple chemistry – Hans Moraved – Robot: mere machine to transcendent mind, 1998

Scotty’s question (mind if I ask you a question about death? I said that I didn’t) was ‘since I am an agnostic (he didn’t have the conviction of belief, he pointed out, to declare himself an atheist – and that does demand a strong faith) and thus cannot believe in an afterlife (neither a heaven nor a hell – would it not be better, I asked him, to take up Pascal’s Wager? What does that solve, he replied, and I agreed that it resolved nothing), that only leaves oblivion or reincarnation.” (I silently question whether these are options – can we chose one or the other). “What he wanted to know,” he said,” is which is the better of these choices.?” “Well I said, I have reservations about reincarnation, it’s just too easy a solution, to ready an answer to an unfathomable dilemma – it was an invention – a middle ground between oblivion and eternity, but it does have the attraction of being something that is knowable – you can look at an ant and know something about it, so if you come back as an ant you will have an idea of what being an ant is (not much, although it won’t do you any good – you can’t use that knowledge). Now oblivion on the other hand is totally incomprehensible. When you have to choose between something that you know something about (even if that knowledge is insignificant) and something about which you are incapable of knowing anything about, choose the more comprehensible. “But I don’t want to come back,” he replied. “Then choose oblivion,” I told him. He accused me of not taking his question seriously. It was untrue

The days of ‘them’ not having any power are over, and they are angry. And ‘they’ want to use ‘their’ power as a means of retribution. That’s what Obama’s about, gang. He’s angry, he’s gonna cut ‘this’ country down to size, he’s gonna make it pay for all the multicultural mistakes that it has mad, its mistreatment of minorities – Rush Limbaugh

Noel Noel on this Christmas Eve – all the stars shining brightly

There are some professions for which it is not good to be too professional; too attached to the standards of practice; to reliant on the good will of peers; too beholden to a salary to tolerate difference. Some disciplines should not be disciplinary.

Distrust all circumstances that seem to favor your secret wishes – Emile Gaboriau – Monsieur Lecoq, 1869

You’ll not die today
Yes perhaps tonight
     In your sleep
I could have a sudden
     Heart attack
     And fall dead
That is true but highly
     Improbable
And someone might
Walk in that door
And make me
      A millionaire
And this is true too

We did not create ourselves, but we are stuck with ourselves – Ernest Becker – The Denial of Death, 1973 r p158

All needs, all desires, all longing – are commercial opportunities, in a culture without community and a culture without community has many many unfulfilled needs, desires and longings.

Every hero becomes a bore at last – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Factoid: One third of the trash in the United States consist of building construction and demolition waste