A life worth living: Madonna

All life should be

If you're blessed enough to be comfortably well off, share the goodness! Here is a post of life in a village in Malawi. Actually, it's the village where one of Madonna's adoptees, David Banda, is from.

The disparity between quality of life is so drastic that I am supremely disillusioned with the human race. Please do your part to restore my faith in you. I love you all, but you have to love one another, and lift each other up. Madonna is a beautiful example of the kindness and humanity we should all show to our fellow man.

She can be accused of showmanship, but nevertheless she truly set an example. I have faith in Madonna's character and purity of intent.

Please read this article (it's short), and I encourage you to adopt an orphan.

Other related Madonna news:
Her Raising Malawi organization has announced that the singer was funding a multimillion-dollar academy for disadvantaged children in Malawi. "I Am Because We Are," a new documentary Madonna produced and narrated, shows poverty and disease devastating the lives of Malawi's children, and urges people to volunteer.

Our sociobiology dictates we follow our genetically encoded evolutionary imperative, for most of us. To override this, and adopt, takes a larger view, I believe (or an inability to have children). Most people consider pets more important than orphans on the other side of the world. We have that right. I'm not sure it IS right, though.

Maternal Mortality: Not a reason to abort

My m&m rap

Maternal mortality: In 2000, the United Nations estimated global maternal mortality at 529,000, of which less than 1% occurred in the developed world. However, most of these deaths have been medically preventable for decades, because treatments to avoid such deaths have been well known since the 1950s.

The maternal mortality ratio, of deaths per hundred thousand births, is: world average- 400, (developed regions - 20, developing regions -440). So, 0.4% of mothers die in childbirth, worldwide. In developing regions, it's 0.44%. In the west, it's only 1% of that, so only 0.0044% of mothers die in childbirth, just over 4 for every 100,000 births: Hardly a reason to abort.

See my post on abortion, below, to see how I demolish other arguments for abortion.
It's not just a logical exercise. I'm God, I know what's best. I decree it so.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is not God; I am.

I have smitten and eaten the flying spaghetti monster. He was delicious. Of course, if you believe I am what I eat, then you may continue worshipping the Flying Spaghetti Monster in my person. I am happy when I see images of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, for they remind me of my tasty and delicious, delightful and nutritious, wonderful and filling meal. With a nice bottle of chianti. No, it was a bottle of Lady of the Lake sparkling pear wine. Sorry.

All about the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I usually eat piles of poop, so don't even think about eating me.

Papal Shoes

p.s., Put on your red shoes and dance the blues! -David Bowie

I love this pic!

(He should wear red Chuck Taylors!!)

Why I like Obama

I'm a democrat, and he's far better than Hillary














I know, I just finished my diatribe against abortion. Obama is pro-choice. The next president may well select two supreme court justices. So what's up?

I don't actually want a civil war. I want wide bipartisan agreement on what needs to be done, which, as Kucinich said, is to reduce the likelihood of abortions.

I don't know any models of how abortions would be affected by criminalization. If the pro-choice argument is true, that most women with unwanted pregnancies will just have back-alley coathanger abortions, then I would say we should keep it safe and legal. Why harm both the child AND the mother?

If, on the other hand, we can spread the word about using both condoms and spermicidal foam or whatever in tandem, and, barring that, using the day after pill, the need for abortions would be nullified. (I just discovered that this pill is, technically, a chemically-induced abortion. Logically, if we permit day-after pills, we might as well permit adult murder; it's just a matter of size: we're all infinitely small compared to the universe; we kill bugs, we're all bugs to God, God loves bugs, killing bugs is only acceptable in self-defense. Thus, so is the day after pill, but only 0.0044% percent of births, in the West, result in the death of the mother.

I don't like Hillary because she thinks of keeping the option to kill your own baby as "empowerment." She also calls keeping the right of youth to have an abortion without parental consent "empowerment" as well. If we want to call murder "empowerment" then all you sickos vote Hillary. If that's how you want to empower your child... you would probably be selected for the house of slytherin. Barack on the other hand, describes the abortion decision as one he trusts women to make prayerfully. That means in consultation with God. Well, I, God, want them to go to term, and either keep their baby or give him or her for adoption.

She is combative, and would be the Democratic Dubya, isolating the Republicans this time from full inclusion in the political process, in my opinion. Barack, though, is truly an inspiration, and is capable of inspiring this nation to doing greater, doing greatness. He's the head of a movement, and we need as many leaders to solve the multitude of problems we face as possible.

I perceive Hillary to be power-hungry, and Barack as more of a kindhearted soul. I also believe that, as a consequence, he would be a more effective leader. Perhaps less likely to use a nuke, too, if it ever came to that. Well, enough of that. Vote Barack!

Abortion

Death. Ew. Ouch.

I wanted to say a few words about abortion. It sickens me. There's a video of one at the Catholic website. I've seen the graphic pictures of a shredded foetus lying in a basket draped with the American flag. There's something like 46m abortions a year, worldwide. There are around a million (1,287,000 reported in '04) in America.

I am adopted. I am glad I am alive. Don't let women tell you you have no right to make a decision because you're a man. Women have the right to kill their babies, but men don't? I'm just saying. I'm obviously not arguing for a father's right to infanticide.

Life begins at conception. The heart starts beating at 3 weeks, and brain waves start at 6. That's in the first trimester. The first trimester stops at what, 12 weeks. The foetus probably experiences... Hell, in the movie "what the bleep do we know" water, just water, is shown to experience conscious response to it's environment. (So kill anything? No. Love everything)

People say it's just a clump of cells, an unwanted mass, like a tumor. Well, we people are just clumps of cells, too. Maybe I think abortionists are like tumors. They have a right to life.

Adoption is the option. It's the solution. (Especially if you're aborting what will be a healthy white baby). Newborns are in greater demand than older orphans.

Birth is painful. It can be dangerous. Women will get attached to their baby. All this is acceptable, given that we're talking about a human life. If a mother decides at the last minute not to give her child for adoption? Great! Why should anyone have any problem with that?

There's the argument, oft repeated, keep abortion safe and legal. Well, if people are going to kill anyway, why don't we make it safe for the killers and not imprison them nor subject them to abuse, rape, or any kind of castigatory suffering, then.

Actually, I am opposed to suffering, even for killers.

Many pro-choicers might be for letting rapists rot, for example, but this is an extremely sick and unkind thirst for cruel, if not unusual, punishment. I am for safe imprisonment of killers like abortionists (aborters included). They're killing their own babies, for Christ sake. It's not right.

Abortion is suicide of half your genes. Why would anyone do that to themselves?

The other big argument of pro-choice is keep your hands off of my body, keep your laws off of my body, it's my body to do with as I please, etc. I answer this in two ways: One, if a child is in danger, we have laws to protect that child (child protective services). And two, do we really want to say that a mother's child, her baby, her foetus growing in her womb, has no rights? Would we then say that a siamese twin has the right to kill off her twin, a part of her body? Just because this living being inside of you is attached to you doesn't give you the right to kill it.

Abortion is a big industry. With a cost of x, and x abortions, abortionists suck in about x dollars. I don't care if this country goes into a civil war over this issue. It's got to stop.

What are the x's? In America, about $372 average x 1,287,000 abortions, and therefore a $44.64m industry. Maybe not as big as I thought it was. Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap? Since Roe v. Wade in '73, there have been 46,590,000 american abortions. Worldwide, there's 46m abortions a year (26m legal).

I also talk about other points regarding abortion in the Obama and Maternal mortality posts, above, and the Abortion vs. Adoption post.

With God, all things are possible

Levitation, walking on water, flying like superman? No.

In Mat 19:26, it says: And looking upon [them] Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." And in Mar 9:23 it says, And Jesus said to him, "'If You can!' All things are possible to him who believes." Of course, I don't believe this.

I believe reality is independent of belief.
One's personal subjective experience of reality will be altered, but not the reality itself.

There's mind over matter: maybe you can bend a spoon, but changing the world will take getting your hands dirty. Why not just bend the spoon with your hands? But if I can believe the world into happiness, I'll do my part :-)

I will never believe that Jesus walked on water (unless it was frozen, or on the ground). I probably wouldn't even believe it if I saw it, and chaulk it up to a magic trick, or mind control, like I was dreaming. That's just ridiculous.

Only things within the confines of natural law are possible. Omnipotence is limited. What's possible? I'll tell you: Making a happy, healthy, wealthier world without poverty. That has a nice ring to it. And it'll be loads of fun. It already is, for so many of us. Isn't that the "Kingdom" Jesus would have wanted us to pursue, anyway?

I'm here to beat the drum for the development professionals (and anyone else making this world better), and get things crackin' where they should be, like with the current world food crisis, and with treatable diseases and causes for disease, and the x wars happening (diplomats, get your asses in gear). I may not actually be doing one whit of good, but I like to think I am. I know, I'm a pencil-pusher, albeit with computer bits.

There is work to be done. This is my plan. Compile the lists of problems and solutions into an encyclopedia like resource. I think it is essential to remember these are all personal problems of suffering/not enough happiness (the main -only?- problem), in all its forms, from not having basic needs met to not having an exceptional quality of life. Everything is personal.

If we are not to start from the basic premise that all people need the same things, we need to see how people fundamentally differ, and meet each group's needs separately.

There are different kinds of problems: There are medical problems compiled in various sources, mental health or psychiatric problems (listed, for example, in the DSM-IV), and social problems, ranging from nations to neighborhoods to nephews, and problems the whole world should unite on, like ecology or aliens or diseases or economics, that ignore borders. There are political problems, like not agreeing on what needs to be done, and then how to do it.

There are forensic problems, business problems, problem students, parenting problems, schoolwork problems, the problem of getting up in the morning, traffic problems, relationship problems, health problems, and problems in games, like jigsaw puzzles or sudoku or chess... Our brains basically do nothing but solve problems all day. Lack of problems to keep oneself busy with (boredom) is itself a problem. Too many problems is definitely a problem. There are philosophical problems, like even, for example, what the true nature of reality "is." Proper diction, word-choice, selection, from the possibilities, options, choices (lol) seems to be a perpetual problem. Good public speaking, and thinking and writing clearly, is a problem.

I thought the UN had a list of problems, but now I can't seem to find it.
What is lacking CAN be numbered. And probably has been.

A list of social problems can be found at: http://dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/Issues_and_Causes/

and various issues are debated at:
http://www.procon.org/

After we compile an encyclopedia, we need to determine what needs to be done, how many people and how much money is required to solve all of them. Like, how many people per problem, and what problems or sets of problems should be concentrated on first, and getting people united and excited about our collective future. Which solutions or sets of solutions should we employ, and which reject? Try them all? This is how God must orchestrate the creation of a better world. I've got some work cut out for me.

Avalokiteshvara

Yet another religious linguistic incarnation of teshara

Apparently, as I have just discovered -by accident-, my surname Teshara is a part of the word used to describe the bodhisattva of wisdom and compassion, Avolokiteshvara, widely revered in both Mahayana and Tibetan forms. It links my name to Loki, a Norse god, and avav, a word in Idiom Neutral, a language with 22 letters, meaning loved.

That is, to quote from the 1902 dictionary: ".(b) pluperfect the imperfect of avar, eg mi avav am«/, I had loved. (c) future perfect the future of a\ar, eg mi a\ero amed, I shall have loved. § 41. Also, used in: mi avav esed amed, I had been loved. Future : mi esero amed, I shall be loved. Future Perfect : mi avero esed amed, I shall have been loved."

The world never ceases to be amazing, and intimately personal.

I hope I live up to my name. Maybe it's part of why I am how I am. Anyhow.

Regarding "wisdom," the bible says in Ecclesiastes 1:18 "For in much wisdom is much grief. And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." I don't buy this. I've always liked learning. Perhaps at the expense of greater joys, who's to say. But if you don't know certain things (i.e. medical information, for example), ignorance can be miserable. If there is an omniscient God, he must be the most miserable person alive. They say God wants us to be happy. Why then, for a Buddhist, is the ultimate goal making yourself free from suffering (at the expense of helping others, a bodhisattva)? Perhaps all is, as the "the Preacher" says, vanity, absurdity, frustration, futility, nonsense: What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered." This statement is itself nonsense. I'll devote my next post to it.

Sight to the blind

Gene Therapy, the modern Jesus

Tell the people: In the news today is two cases of people with lebur congenital ameurosis, a genetic disease that prevents the retina from processing light, being able to see better after surgery that implants fully functioning genes into the eye. Although the genetic condition that is being treated is rare, the researchers believe that their technique could be used to treat a wide variety of sight disorders, possibly even age-related sight loss. It's a medical breakthrough, "like the first heart or kidney transplant." David Head of the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society said: "Of course, we must temper our excitement and enthusiasm with an acknowledgement that these are very early days, and the trial is working on one flawed gene."

And right after my entry on God's eye, see? (twilight zone theme playing)

God's Eye

God is watching with a compound eye

The Huichol Indians have a craft project for you
1. The Eye of God, as it is called, was a project I made in third grade or something. It was said to bring seeing of hidden reality, for the Native Americans. (There are Chileans and Tibetans who do this, too).

2. The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293, is the nearest planetary nebula to Earth, lying around 450 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. This nebula is called the God's Eye (picture previously posted).

3. The eye of Sauron seems to be relevant.

4. The dollar bill's Masonic symbol is of course fodder for many illuminati theorists.

5. The egyptian god's eye (eye of horus), pictured above, was used on the pyramids, I think, which of course were burial monuments for God-rulers, but also are theorized to be markers for space aliens. The story of the eye goes, "After Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, Horus fought with Seth for the throne of Egypt. In this battle, Horus lost one of his eyes. The eye was restored to him and it became a symbol of protection for the ancient Egyptians. After this battle, Horus was chosen to be the ruler of the world of the living." Horus anagrams to hours..

6. CBS, 7. AOL, and 8. Time Warner, all have eyes and triangles/pyramids in their corporate logos. Corporations are the new gods, and ceo's and economists are the high priests. Even religions are run like corporations. Also, 9. Fidelity's logo is a pyramid, too.

Recent spate of Violence

They say it comes in spurts, but is this worldwide, as well?

Chicago, Illinois and Tijuana, Mexico are both in the news for recent gun violence.

Mexican drug gang clashes killed 15 people, on crowded streets of TJ, and injuring who knows.. Drug-related violence is a serious issue across Mexico. Nearly 200 people have been killed in Tijuana this year. I guess it's mostly about funneling Colombian cocaine into California.

Perhaps we should legalize drugs? Have Coca-Cola sell Cocaine? Coke is it.

Chicago police have had to deploy SWAT teams to combat the recent violence, which amounted to 36 shootings last weekend, with 7 fatalities, and 23 dead children this year. Police blame increased availability of weaponry, in which past grievances that would have been resolved through fist fights are now being "solved" by resorting to more deadly modalities of conflict resolution.

Will someone please build and market a boxing rink or something?

What is God, to me (God?)

The Creator, Destroyer, and Preserver (to get Hindu)

Creator: My parents created me, and all their ancestors, going back to the unicellular organism that split into it's Eve in the "primordial soup," which perhaps, like all matter, has consciousness. I am adopted, so the parental set expands to 4, nature and nurture separately. And, as long as I'm being expansive, I can include all the people who influenced me, and those who influence me now. In fact, if I am as sensitive a mind as my brain seems to indicate (I get headshocks quite esaily), perhaps no one is outside of the purview of influencing/creating me. I have the last say, of course. I am the creator of my own world. Perhaps I should nullify the influence of language and letters.

Destroyer: Time destroys all things. So nature, and my nature, at times, my dna, the universe- all have conspired to make me a mere mortal. Perhaps I will live forever as conscious matter.. Things, perhaps, merely change form.

Preserver: My wife Sara (St. Sara is called Kali the black)..(are we in the age of Kali?) sustains me. She keeps me ticking. God is love, after all. Sara, in Kannada, means necklace or chain. She wears an S on her neck sometimes, which just means she's so super special (and she is).

Religious Symbols

GOD stands for delusion of grandeur


DOG stands for great old dog




Teshara anagrams to 'as earth'

The 15 religions, going clockwise, are:Sikhism (the Khanda), Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Shintoism, Judaism, x, Daoism, x, x (native american?), wicca, zoroastrianism, x, and x.

As the police sang on 'Ghost in the machine', One world is enough for all of us.

Is there a difference between the terms planet, realm, world? There doesn't have to be. We can be a first-world planet, for example.

In reference to the Buddhist nam-myoho-renge-kyo, there is another mantra that is said to work wonders (unite one with God) -this time for the Hare Krishna's: "Simply by chanting the holy name of Krishna--Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare--one can achieve perfect self-realization."

Topix.net lists in it's religion category the following religious group categories: Amish, Anglican, Assemblies of God, Atheism, Bahai, American Baptist, British Israelism, Buddhism, Roman Catholic Church, Christian, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Christian Scientist, Church of the Nazarene, Community of Christ. Confucian Druid, End Times, Episcopal Church, FLDS, Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Hindu, Islam, Jain Dharma, Jehovahs Witness, Judaism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Lutheran Church, Mennonites, Messianic Judaism, Methodist, New Age, Orthodox Church, Pagan/Wiccan, Presbyterian, Society of Friends, Salvation Army, Scientology, Seventh-day Adventist, Shinto, Sikh, Southern Baptist, Swedenborgian, Taoism, Unitarian Universalist, Vodun, Zoroastrian.

So, obviously, we should all know there's a lot more than just 15.
There are numbers of religions, of their symbols, and of their gods.
Check out http://www.godchecker.com/ for a list of all gods, and other good stuff.

I'm definitely going to look into this flying spaghetti monster thing. Maybe the powerpuff girls can rescue us?

2D view of the Sun, observed by STEREO

2D view of the Sun, observed by STEREO
Originally uploaded by chadisalem

I thought this was eye-catching, being blue and all. My eyes are blue. The window to the "sol" is in the eyes. The blue color, however, is obviously a false color- it simply represents the Sun seen at a given temperature or wavelength, in this case 1 million degrees C (or 171 Å). Each temperature allows scientists to focus on different features of the sun (and different color photographs!).

And no, you can't listen to this photograph with your living room's sound system (as far as I can tell). Images are taken by the NASA's twin STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) satellites, launched in 2006.

God, Dog, and Sun, Earth

God's Eye, Cistine chapel ceiling, looking down on (Northern) earth from space.

There's a song by VAST (Visual Audio Sensory Theater) called "Touched." We're all touched by God. I touch myself... (Touch: T - ouch!)

Funky History

Coinkydinks

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both Presidents were shot in the head. Lincoln 's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln , was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln , was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939. Both assassins were known by their three names. Both names are composed of fifteen letters. Now hang on to your seat. Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.' Kennedy was shot in a car called ' Lincoln ' made by 'Ford.' Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse. Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe , Maryland. A week before Kennedy was s hot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

We live in a weird world.

Pranks and Revenge

PR firms

I really like the shows Crank Yankers and Tom Green, and I read Catch Me If You Can when I was a kid, and liked the Kill Bill series, and have the book Spite, Malice, and Revenge...and recommend any of this stuff if you have any kind of mentality resembling mine. I also really like magic and juggling.

Here's a list of books and links to good practical jokes (all in good fun- please cleanse yourself of illwill beforehand), or revenge tactics (on the flip side of that coin with -vicious?- maliciousness) if you want to remain anonymous).

Wikipedia's practical jokes and revenge.
And magic and juggling.

When it comes to athletic prowess, my favorite sports are basketball and martial arts.
The nba dunk contest is a hoot.

Plug any of these into u-tube for some fun.

Google came up with ....

Pornography

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Prostitution

Pray to Tlazolteotl

I read an editorial last month in the S.F. chronicle by Caille Millner that I saved, points of which I want to share:

Arguments she's heard to legalize prostitution include: 1)people do it anyway, 2)why not make it safe, and 3)prostitution can be a 'positive' thing for women.

Regarding the first argument, she says "making a case for whatever you want legalized based on the idea that some people will flout the law is the thinnest of all defenses." People murder, for example, and few clamor to legalize that. Laws aren't written merely for expediency, but morality.

Regarding the second, she says violence and exploitation will not magically disappear. There is even some evidence that "issues" like rape, physical assaults, robbery, and human trafficking have been exacerbated in and around the parts of Nevada where some legal prostitution is allowed. This possibility, in her view, negates the argument that there is greater benefit in the opportunity to ensure that some sex workers submit to a regular battery of std tests.

Finally, it's not. Plain and simple. No woman wants to be reduced to her body parts. Having sex you don't enjoy with strangers you don't like is not a 'positive' thing. She says, "There are reasons why so many sex workers were abused as children, suffer from substance abuse problems, and have feelings of low self-worth, and it's not because they've got such healthy jobs. It's because they already feel like they've been devalued, and now they're in a profession that reinforces that." Very few people, who support legalization, will answer in the affirmative to the question, "is this the kind of "career route" you would want for your sister or daughter?"

She thinks law enforcement should more fairly focus on pimps and johns, who assert brutality against sex workers, than the prostitutes themselves.

An interesting discussion re: legalization is at surveycentral.

Also,

Denmark

And now for something completely different...

My wife wants me to write about Denmark! I've never been, but here goes:

Denmark appears to be a good place to be. In 2006 and 2007, surveys ranked Denmark as "the happiest place in the world," based on standards of health, welfare, and education. Denmark was also ranked third most "peaceful" nation, behind Norway and New Zealand. Copenhagen was voted one of the most liveable cities.

The weather is temperate. The winters are not particularly cold with mean temperatures in January and February of 0.0 °C (32 F) and the summers are cool with mean temperature in August 15.7 ° C (60 F). As a northern country, the lengths of the days vary. The shortest and longest days of the year have traditionally been celebrated.

The celebration for the shortest day corresponds roughly with Christmas (Danish: jul) and modern celebrations concentrate on Christmas Eve, 24 December. The Norse word jól is a plural, indicating that pre-Christian society celebrated a season with multiple feasts. Christianity introduced the celebration of Christmas, resulting in the use of the Norse name also for the Christian celebration. Efforts by the Catholic Church to replace this name with kristmesse were unsuccessful.

Denmark has the third highest proportion of atheists and agnostics in the world, estimated to be between 43% and 80%. According to official state statistics, 83.0% of Danes are members of the Lutheran state church, the Danish National Church (Den Danske Folkekirke), also known as the Church of Denmark.

Denmark has a population of over 5.4 million as of January 1, 2007, with a median age of 39.8 years. Danish is the official language, but English and German are widely spoken. During recent years, anti-immigration sentiment has resulted in some of the toughest immigration laws in the European Union. "Folk high schools" are social, informal education structures without tests or grades but emphasising communal learning, self-discovery, enlightenment, and learning how to think. By law, all college education in Denmark must not charge tuition or fees.

Historically, Denmark, like its Scandinavian neighbors, has been one of the most socially progressive cultures in the world. For example, in 1969, Denmark was the first country to legalize pornography. And in 1989, Denmark enacted a registered partnership law, being the first country in the world to grant same-sex couples nearly all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage.

Lars Ulrich from Metallica is from Denmark.

Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland (Jylland) and 443 named islands (1419 islands above 100 m² in total (2005)). Of these, 76 are inhabited. The country is flat, with little elevation. There are 4,344 miles of coastline. A perfect circle encompassing the same area as Denmark would have a circumference of 461 miles. No location in Denmark is farther from the coast than 32.3 mi.

Drugs are not legal there (maybe you're thinking of the Netherlands, and Amsterdam, where "soft drugs" are legal). But prostitution is.

The etymology of the word Denmark (Kongeriget Danmark, the kingdom of Denmark) is a matter of debate. The debate is centered primarily around the prefix 'Dan' and whether it refer to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending.

economy
The currency is the Danish krone, and the per capita income is $46,600 (6th highest). It has the world's highest taxes, with 77.4% employment (3rd highest [age 15-64], behind Switzerland and Iceland). It also has the world's lowest income inequality, going by Gini-coefficient – 0.247. (Namibia has the highest, with a coefficient of 0.707).

The Danish welfare model is accompanied by a taxation system that is both broad based (25% VAT, not including excise, duty and tax) and with world record income tax rates (minimum tax rate for adults is 42% scaling to over 60% except for the residents of Ertholmene that escape the otherwise ubiquitous 8% healthcare tax fraction of the income taxes). The most infamous tax approximately triples the price of private vehicles.

Denmark is home to many multi-national companies, among them: A. P. Moller-Maersk Group(Maersk - international shipping), Lego (children's toys), Bang & Olufsen (hi-fi equipment), Carlsberg (beer), Vestas (wind turbines), and the pharmaceutical companies Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk.

Main exports include: Animal Foodstuffs, Chemicals, Dairy Products, Electronic Equipment, Fish, Furniture, Leather, Machinery, Meat, Oil and Gas, and Sugar.

I wanted to write mainly about why it's happy, but I guess I'll just have to go! (See, taxes aren't always so bad!) Maybe they can export happiness.

Here's a quote by Stephen Colbert at Bush's whimsical last press dinner: "I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least," he told the audience, "and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq".

A Good Buddhist

well, becomes well; i.e. becomes a Buddha
(but not necessarily a buddhist)

1)Discovers things for his/her self:

2)Achieves clarity and enlightenment

clarity is seeing things for what they are, being aware and sensitive to your environment, seeing between the lines, behind the surface, behind the scenes, seeing the unseen as well. So understanding physics is big, for many Buddhists, I believe. The fusion of dualities for an enlightened being involves understanding being/matter as taking a middle ground between the view that things either exist or do not exist, for example.

enlightenment is the extinction of suffering, and dedication to helping others extinguish suffering, with the deep realization that the two are the same, so that one acts kindly, to spread kindness, countering pastma (pain agony suffering torment misery anguish) wherever and whenever it occurs, like an effective antivirus software package. Happiness is bringing others out of a state of suffering. Happiness is fighting evil (successfully).

This can be achieved through meditation, a typical Buddhist practice. There are x types of meditation:

(one type is the lotus sutra: nam-myoho-renge-kyo).
This phrase, mantra is the key to happiness, according to one Japanese monk.

3)the path to extinguish suffering involves extinguishing greed, hatred, and delusion. Clarity about suffering starts with 4 "noble" truths: there is suffering, it starts, it ends, and there is a way to end it. This way is the noble eightfold path. The 8 ways to a "cessation of suffering" are divided into 3 categories: action, thought, and wisdom.

THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
-action: have right speech, right acts, and right livelihood.
-thought: have right effort, mindfulness, and concentration.
-wisdom: have right understanding, and right thoughts.

this can be summarized as morality and mastery over a purified mind.

action
morality is right thought, word, and deed (which is a fancy way of saying everything). I consider thoughts and words to be deeds, anyway. Dudley Do-right. Just do it! But actions speak louder than words (which perhaps speak louder than thoughts). Actions stem from thoughts. It's all the same.

okay, so right mindfulness, understanding, concentration, and thought may sound like the same thing, or very similar, at first blush. As might right effort and acts. So I'll describe the subtleties, as presented on Wikipedia. Meditate on them, and absorb them, integrate them into your soul, being, identity, and life, to become healthy and become an agent for a better, healthier, happier world.

action
1)Right Speech—One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way
2)Right Actions—Wholesome action, avoiding action that would do harm
3)Right Livelihood—One's way of livelihood does not harm in any way oneself or others; directly or indirectly

thought
4)Right Effort/Exercise—One makes an effort to improve
5)Right Mindfulness/Awareness—Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness
6)Right Concentration/Meditation—Being aware of the present reality within oneself, without any craving or aversion.

wisdom
7)Right Understanding—Understanding reality as it is, not just as it appears to be.
8)Right Thoughts—Change in the pattern of thinking.

That's it! The road to wellville. Actually, I think the eightfold path may be a bit delusional. A person with neuralgia is still going to suffer. They can take away the suffering associated with the suffering by accepting it, not being averse to it, but the pain will persist. Maybe I'm wrong. Is it all in your head?

4) Perhaps only death can be the the final cessation of suffering. It seems to me Buddhism embraces death. According to Tibetan buddhists, there is reincarnation. My wife believes most buddhists believe in reincarnation. The law of karma dictates whether your next life will have more or less suffering than the previous. Living a succession of improving lives will eventually result in Buddhahood, in which you cease to be reborn, and live in heaven or something. I'm not completely clear on all this.

My own view is death IS the cessation of suffering, but we shouldn't therefore seek it, or be ambivalent toward it, and perhaps therefore take risks. We should embrace life, and seek to make our lives happy, from making other's lives better, and live a long and rewarding life. And then we make our death happy, too.

The goal of Buddhism is to become a Buddha, or a bodhisattva, if there is a distinction, which I think there shouldn't be (one sees reality clearly -the awakened one, while the other compassionately refrains from entering nirvana in order to save others). The reason I think this outlook, this distinction, is wrong, is happiness (for me, anyway) involves service. If you think true happiness and enlightenment excludes service, I think you've got a false consciousness, and your Buddhahood should be in question. I think seeing reality clearly entails that you devote your life to service, which will make you happy in itself, in an absurd world that may not get (much) better overall, but the joy is in the effort, the tangible difference, one makes for even one individual, after (or while) one conquors the demons and sufferings in oneself. Meditation is solitary, but happiness is also social, a team effort.

Unique Me

I yam whuteye yam (is what you are, or what?)

I as me.
I'm an adopted, schizophrenic, mensa-qualifying, eagle scout, who's an INTJ, who's read the bible, and claims to be God. Each one of these is a small category. I guess I'm a one in a zillion type individual, you could say. Then again, I see myself everywhere.

By the numbers:
Adopted-
all I could find was as of 2001, 2% of American children (under 18) were adopted. I was adopted in 1975. Worldwide, and of the total population, dunno.

Schizophrenic- "0.4–0.6%[2][3] of the population affected" -Wikipedia

Mensa-qualifying-
I got a 1260 on my SATs, which barely qualifies me. 99th percentile, verbal. (top 2%)..."score at the 98th percentile or higher of a standardized, supervised intelligence test."[4][5] -Wikipedia. I'm not actually in mensa, though. I had a doctor who told me they were all head, and no heart. In any case, I'm a bit removed from society up here, and can stimulate my left and right brain to the heart's content with all the dullards (just kidding).

Eagle Scout-
A total of 1,835,410 Scouts have earned Eagle Scout as of the end of 2005; out of 83,486,083 Scouts since 1911, about 2 percent of the Boy Scouting membership.[8] In 2005, 49,895 Eagle Scout awards were presented, about 5 percent of the 2005 membership. FYI, the scout law is a Scout is Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. The motto is Be Prepared. And the slogan is Do a good turn daily. See, you can be a scout in spirit.

INTJ-
one of the rarest of the sixteen personality types from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Referring to Keirsey, INTJs belong to the temperament of the rationals and are called Masterminds. The INTJ may also be referred to as "the scientist." Masterminds are rare, comprising "no more than, say, one percent of the population."

has read the (entire) bible-
I've only read the NKJV. My wife owns a New American Bible, which includes the "Catholic letters." There's more, of course. I'm told to check out the gospel of Thomas - child Christ striking people dead who bother him. . . Anyway, I suppose it's not really that uncommon. Couldn't find a stat.

claims to be God (for fun)-
Only schizophrenics and cult-leaders seem to do so, but they're all so serious. I'm like a laughing Buddha (tormented by headshocks). There's the saying, if you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. I guess there's a difference between people who are in Nirvana, and those who create Nirvana for others, at the expense of their own delight. All I know is Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Seems kind of silly, frankly. (It means devotion, mystic law, lotus blossom, sound). I guess there are reasons there aren't Gods running willy nilly everywhere. I think everyone's afraid of the religious crazies or the satanists or "vampires" who would like nothing more than "deicide", who resent their own condition. Or no one wants to be crucified, taking the example of Jesus to heart. Not everyone likes someone who self-apotheosizes. Come on people, relax, have a heart, laugh. I'm telling you, you really are God. God is love, even if you're a hater.

Speaking of having a heart, Sara and I just watched Apocalypto (we've already seen Evilenko). Be kind, rewind.

Also, and this is kind of weird, my left ankle doesn't bend, and I just read this about Virgos: It's interesting to note that Vulcan, in Greek mythology, is the lame god with the brilliant mind. Many Virgos have a slight limp, or else some peculiar and unusual quality to the walk or posture. It also said this, which makes me happy: Once he's learned to master life's complicated details, in­stead of letting details master him, he can shape his own destiny with more certainty than any other Sun sign. Is Virgo any rarer a sign than the others? No.

One site said that April has the most births, and December the least, but apparently, in the U.S., August has taken top billing, with a bumper crop of new Leos. Both my folks are Leos.

The Pope's Visit

I love it when you call me Big Poppa

Pope Benedict (my grandpa's name was Ben..) praised America, but said not everyone had gotten a piece of the American dream in the past. "To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves," he said.
He also lamented "clear signs of a disturbing breakdown in the very foundations of society: signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations and a growing forgetfulness of God."

Is he upset with anger? There's a LOT to be righteously and rightfully angry about, Mr. Pope. He might be a bit angry about a few things, himself, it appears.

He's 81 years old, and he just wants peace, I imagine, to enjoy with his piano and his cat. I almost feel sorry for the guy. God is a word. How can you "forget" God?

Christians are wrong because of the Jewish critique of why Jesus does not fulfill the requirements of the Messiah. Jews are wrong because they expect their Messiah to eliminate disease (which is not possible). And God only knows why Muslims or Buddhists are wrong. I'm sure I could find something. Maybe I'm wrong, too. Everybody's wrong! Yay!

Just be good, and do good. Remember, not doing bad is a form of doing good. And then there's basically infinite potential for doing good. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Some spite and ire regarding the Pope, by Christopher Hitchens.

Crime Shows

bang bang

Personally, I think crime shows are boring. CSI and Law and Order, etc. just don't do it for me. And neither have the mystery novels I've read. I like it real. Keep it realz, dawg.

I want to know real police procedure, real forensics, and real crime stories. True crime is more interesting, for me. I like reality tv, and not "reality" tv. I detest laugh tracks, and acting, in general, just seems phony to me, most of the time. So give me documentaries, give me truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (well, maybe a little fiction/fantasy, aka "true lies"). Give me the unadulterated facts.

When I lived in Davis, the college library had lots of interesting forensics resources, like journals and textbooks. That's way more interesting to me than watching gruesome Grissom, with his pig in the shit, or what-have-you, with the techno-soundtrack. That's just a tv writer trying to make entertainment.

Reality can be far more gruesome than tv, of course. Nauseating and excruciating and twisted and cruel. Not for the faint of heart, real-life horror. Starvation, for example, is pretty horrifying.
If you like details, can derive facts/probabilities from them, and have a need for justice (that coincides with our legal system's) deriving from a righteous anger against crime, then a career in law enforcement is waiting. Of course, many criminals might think they are enforcing their own justice, and that they deserve whatever they steal or earn.

On murder
Here's why murderers kill (not in order of prevalence):
1)anger, hatred, rage, wrath, fury. vengeance. best served cold/malice
2) for money. hitman, assassin, mercenary. theft. insurance.
3) thrill kill, fun, excitement, sport, to feel alive. bored. curiosity.
4) possessed, crazy, the voice said to. belief in supernatural identity: vampire, werewolf, zombie. hypnotized, mind control. god v. sinners. because they're good. because they're evil.
5) for a cause.
6) abortion.
7) at war. us/them. the president told them to. holy war. enemy.
8) justice. death-penalty. street-justice vigilanteism.
9) suicide. pain. guilt. depression. frustration. despair. resentment.
10) self-defense. pre-emptive self-defense.
11) kill or be killed. cannibalism.
12) euthanasia.
13) fame.
14) ate too many twinkies. drugs.
15) snap! wronged. slighted.
16) peer-pressure.
17) to work out personal issues. power. sexual. blood fetish.
18)need, compulsion, addiction. demons. gratification.
19) philosophical: everyone's already dead, a bug like an ant or a virus in an eternity of space/time, send them to heaven, end suffering, (vanity, frustration, futility, absurdity, nonsense), no one gets out of life alive, everyone's a meatbag/breedbug/pest, to give life meaning, all we are is dust in the wind, oblivion.
20) torment. cause of suffering. jealousy.
21) wronged: beatings, rape, cheating, intimidation, oppression, exploitation,
22) bloodthirst.
23) means, motive, opportunity. because they can. the perfect crime.
24) be all that you can be. an army of one.
25) the final solution.

misc. death news

Death Happens

1)In the U.S., about 3,300 prisoners remain on death row nationwide. States have lifted the moratorium on executions, now that a divided Supreme Court has approved the lethal injection method most commonly used, so let the killing begin...

2)The U.S. Army has developed robotic exoskeleton suits...

3)Israeli "chess": the brewing storm
In Palestine, 22 are dead. In early March, at least 100 people were killed during operations launched by Israel after Palestinian rocket attacks on its territory. Today (yesterday?) though, at least 22 people, including 5 Palestinian children, have died in Gaza's worst day of fighting since those Israeli incursions in March. The recent spat started with a Hamas ambush in northern Gaza that killed three Israeli troops, Israel's highest daily loss in the area for 3 years. Israel retaliated. Life has never been easy in Gaza. It is a narrow, overcrowded strip of land, inhabited by 1.4mn Palestinians, most of whom are refugees from the land that became Israel in 1948. But life in Gaza has got much, much worse in the last few years. The world's biggest powers imposed sanctions against Hamas when it won elections in 2006. They regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation and demanded, still without success, that it recognise Israel, give up violence and accept previous Palestinian agreements with the Israelis. Since Hamas used force to take over from its Palestinian rivals Fatah last year Israel has allowed only the barest essentials into Gaza. The result is that Gaza is being cut off from the modern world. There is very little fuel, so the streets are full of carts pulled by horses and donkeys. One million people, 70% of the population, live on UN food aid. "The policy is failing because it is creating conditions on the ground that are not conducive to a peace process. "The mindset of the people here is becoming more and more frustrated, more and more desperate, more and more radical and it is all so predictable - that is the tragedy." Gazans, who are tough and resourceful people, are suffering severe privations. Most of them describe their home as the biggest prison in the world, and when you enter it from Israel it is hard to disagree. Hamas wanted a mutual ceasefire, that would also include the West Bank and which would reopen Gaza's borders. Anything else, he said, would be Israel dictating a Palestinian "surrender". "We said that if Israel commits itself to a comprehensive and mutual calm we are ready to co-operate - but Israel said no" says a Palestinian. "Israel's demanding that Hamas stops the rockets. Then it will decide what it will do." A recent Israeli study by a research group with close ties to Israel's defence establishment said Hamas was currently engaged in the broadest and most significant military build-up in its history. Some generals argue a major Israeli incursion will eventually be needed to prevent Hamas growing even stronger militarily. But they also fear the possible consequences of a lengthy campaign in the crowded cities and refugee camps of Gaza.

The Palestinian economy has collapsed - 87% of private businesses have gone bust - but while the people get poorer, Hamas, the target of the sanctions, is, if anything stronger.

4)In France, French authorities have detained Somali pirates. It is considered a criminal matter rather than one linked to terrorism. (I think terrorism should be a criminal matter). In any case, Somali coastal waters are known to be among the most hazardous in the world. More than 25 ships were seized there by pirates in 2007. Somalia has not had an effective central government for more than 17 years and is plagued by insecurity. Thus, international law steps in (but only to protect the French).The hostages of the pirates were 22 French citizens, six Filipinos, a Cameroonian and a Ukrainian. They were rescued. The Somali president gave his consent...

Speaking of chaos, the father of Chaos theory (i.e. "the butterfly effect" and "deterministic chaos"), Edward Lorenz, died at age 90.

5)A Detroit teenager (18) was found guilty of murder in the gory stabbing, beheading and torching of a Michigan man. I feel the defense attorney tarnished the legal system by saying "Where was his emotion when he testified that he had to kill Mr. Sorensen? When he had to cut off his head? He testified like he was ordering a pizza. A typical day. That's him. That's cold." Some people aren't emotional, and they shouldn't have to act like they are, I say. He may have been guilty, but screw you Mr. Moran. Emotion or lack thereof shouldn't be incriminating, or even a factor. Some people have a flat affect.

6)At least 44 children, and 3 adults, died when a school bus tumbled off a bridge in western India.

7)April 20 is coming up. 420, pronounced four-twenty, is the codeword for marijuana acceptance, because of meeting after a high school got out at 4:20 in the '70's. April 20 is also Hitler's birthday, and the date of the Columbine shootings. A comic documentary, “Super High Me,” the new “Harold and Kumar” release and the mockumentary “Totally Baked” all have marketing and advertising schemes linked to April 20. The trend disturbs anti-drug activists who say mounting scientific evidence indicates that Americans should reject marijuana use. I, for example, ended up with this stupid voice in my head after smoking pot...

8)And, of course, making a killing
Institutional Investor’s Alpha reported Wednesday the top 50 hedge fund managers earned a combined $29 billion in 2007. Five managers earned more than $1 billion.One manager — John Paulson of Paulson & Co. — earned $3.7 billion last year, by betting on the housing market's collapse, which management consultant Peter Cohan pointed out means Paulson in 2007 made 30 times in one hour what the median family made all year.Because hedge fund managers make their money by charging fees on investments from rich people, these fees represent the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the very rich, he said. By contrast, the income inequality plaguing many developing countries represents rich people profiting at the expense of the poor, he said. Many of these hedge fund managers, however, have a reputation for being philanthropic.

In other wealth news, http://yahoo.com/s/859655 talks of a super-big mansion (for a "single family"), with 23 bathrooms, in Greenwich..

Retirement

Put some Goodyears on

The word makes me think of re-tiring your car, and re-tire-ment makes me think of putting new wheels on your mind. Thus, retirement is a chance to take your mind on a spin, with new tires. That's the crazy perspective.

The more sober perspective is that it's simply a time to not work, relax, and do what you want/what you've always wanted to do, if you haven't done it yet.

If you have a need to keep busy, there's volunteer work, if not small jobs here and there. I would recommend spending a little introspective time mapping out what makes you happy, and spending your time accordingly, so as not to veer and lurch from thing to thing without an overall scheme.

Personally, I would be highly selective about the tv, use the library alot to listen to new music, watch videos I like (I like documentaries), and read books that are perfectly suited to my individual taste, and keep fit by going on daily walks or swims or whatever. I would travel, if it was in my budget, and do what I could to alleviate suffering in the world. I would definitely go to baseball games and sun myself. I would visit museums and galleries. I would do new things, like learn new languages or join a birdwatching group or go to a spiritualist meeting or whatever. I would go to the services of tons of different religions, just for fun. For starters.

If you like lawns, there's lawn bowling, golf, and croquet. If you like water, there's lakes, rivers, streams, the beach, and pools. If you like animals, there's Alaska and Canada or wherever, and zoos (and pets). Okay, enough o' that.

If you like service, there's Dr's without borders, the Peace Corps, the Clinton Global Initiative, and just getting down and dirty somewhere making latrines or water filters or distributing toothbrushes or malaria bednets, in addition to lobbying for change with letters, etc..

Kabbalah

I didn't know Madonna was Jewish

I'm not Jewish, but I've read the OT, and perused the Jewish Study Bible, and walked into a Kabbalah center in San Francisco, where they completely de-emphasized any judaic aspect to it. They're trying to create a better world as opposed to get me to convert, maybe? They gave me a little newspaper type thing, which was interesting, but which I seem to have lost.

In any case, here are some tidbits I dredged up from the net:

At Jason Schulman's kabbalah.org, he says, of his School for Nondual Healing and Awakening, "Work on the self, and work on others is ultimately the same thing. With deep insight into our own condition, our own suffering and joy, and our own relationship to the Source of our being, which some call God, we can create healing on every level."

Basically, know thyself.

Also, apparently they do the numerology thing. You substitute words with the same numerical value in the bible to get alternate, hidden meanings. Whatever floats your boat.

There's much much more to it. Dive into yourself, dive into kabbalah, dive in me! (as Kurt Cobain sang). Just swim.

Sara and I just watched the worst movie ever: Jaws 4, I think.

This post was by request, for Sara's mom. She likes tarot. When I see the word tarot, I think of the phrase "to rot." A deathly art, that tarot business. Anyhoo, A kabbalah link to tarot is at:
http://www.hermetic.com/heidrick/

Humanitarian Inventions

HI, there

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/007106.html talks about a gathering at MIT to develop technologies to cheaply meet needs in the developing world.

The International Development Design Summit, as it was called, is at:
http://www.iddsummit.org/

The inventions mentioned are:
a electricity-less fridge, an oven (that produces less smoke), a greenhouse, and a water-transport solution entailing cheap solar-cleansing ergonomic pouch-clothing.

With greater connections established between villages and the developed world (through the $100 dollar computer and the like, for example), problem can better meet solution in the future.

Engineer a better world!

transporting water
1. I'm thinking water can be transported through pouch-clothing and aqua-trikes.
2. The aqua trike could even haul a trailer, that carries more water, to be purified later, I spose.
3. Paths between village and water could be made into bike paths.
4. I don't know if this would help, but as a Boy Scout, I was taught about a survival method to obtain water using a tarp laid over a pit to collect ground condensation. It also needs a tube, if I recall correctly.

Cleaning
5. Does soap harm the environment? Are there ecological soaps for rivers and such?
See toxic soap and ecological soap or cheap nontoxic detergent.

Abortion v. Adoption

I was adopted, thankfully

In the USA, the number of children awaiting adoption dropped from 132,000 to 118,000 during the period 2000 to 2004. The numbers are dropping due to abortion (there is almost one for every two live births, according to this), the increased acceptance of single parenthood, and lower fertility rates.

Worldwide, it is estimated (in 2003) there were 42 million abortions, approximately.

How many adoptions are there, worldwide? And how many could there be? What is the demand, currently? How many prospective adoptive parents get turned away?

This adoption- blog I found, dated 7-13-07, sheds some interesting light. It says, for example, that there are 2.2 billion children (under 18) approximately in the world. Of these, 16 million are orphans. 7.7 million of those are in Africa, and of the African orphans, 60% were orphaned by AIDS.

He goes on to say the number of children adopted worldwide is only 250,000 per year. That doesn't quite measure up to the 42m abortions or 16m orphans (58m possible adoptions). Only 1.5% of the 16m orphans get adopted. So 98.5% don't.

The cost may be too prohibitive
International adoptions almost always end up costing over $10,000 (and sometimes double or triple that) between agency fees, homestudy fees, immigration fees and travel or escorting costs. Fees for domestic adoptions are often in the $10-20,000 range, with exceptions (sometimes) for special infants.

Born equal?
Many people only want healthy, white, newborn babies. This is a big part of the problem.

Question
I wonder how many people want to adopt, and if it meets or surpasses 58 million.

US v. World (GDP and Population)

Here's the quick numerical breakdown:

As of 4/14/08

Population
the U.S. population is: 303,849,507
the world population is: 6,661,203,300

Gross domestic product:
the U.S. GDP is: $13.201819 trillion
the total world GDP is: $48.24879 trillion

U.S. percentage of world population: 4.56%
U.S. percentage of world GDP: 27.364%

27.364 divided by 4.56= 6

U.S. GDP per capita: $43,448.54
World GDP per capita: $7,242.67

Yay, U.S.A.: U.S.A.! U.S.A! U.S.A!

Actually, Luxembourg's got us beat. As of a 2004 estimate, by 2009, their GDP per capita (PPP, i.e. purchasing power parity, in international dollars) will be $85,321.76. Dang!

Poor and Female

More news from Yahoo

Summarized:
UN figures show that women represent 70 percent of the world's poor, own just one percent of titled land, and make up two-thirds of the world's illiterate people.

That's seventy percent of the nearly 2.5 billion poorest and most vulnerable people on earth.

Activists say impoverished women face particular hardships, especially in conflict zones where they are raped and abused, but they say women are often more careful than men with money and better at fostering support networks.

The UN estimates that half a million women die every year due to preventable complications from pregnancy.

The Women, Faith and Development Alliance (WFDA), an alliance of women from government, advocacy groups, faith-based organizations and Hollywood, has amassed fundraising commitments of 1.481 billion dollars at its first summit held at Washington's National Cathedral.
These funds promised so far will benefit over one billion poor women and girls around the world who live in crushing poverty. Specifically, the funds are to address maternal mortality and to stop violence against women, to improve education, basic health care, and water access.

Poverty experts estimate there are between 1.0 and 1.2 billion people around the world who exist on less than one dollar a day,

Food Alert!

Shit! It's like Run Lola Run for the UNFP!

I just read this Yahoo article, posted a half hour ago.

In summary, it says:
1)The UN Food Programme needs $500M by May 1st to help hungry countries affected by the current food crisis. (The government of Haiti just fell yesterday due to food rioting...no, not a food fight like we have) A doubling of food prices over the last three years could potentially push people in low income countries deeper into poverty, the World Bank says.

The IMF has just completed two days of talks on financial crises roiling global markets and rising food and energy prices.

2) Trade imbalances caused by higher food prices will also affect developed economies.

If the price spike continues, "Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people will be starving. Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with consequences for all their lives."

3) The President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, proposes sovereign wealth funds - huge pools of capital controlled by government - invest one percent of their resources in Africa. He said this could draw $30 billion to African growth.

Musicophilia, by Oliver Sacks

NPR plus my Aunt= blog post

I actually heard the interview on npr, and now my aunt says Sr. Catherine, one of her fellow Dominican nuns, has just read his book Musicophilia.

I am glad she reminded me of it, because I wanted to read the book after hearing his interview. The author is described as "as crazy as they come", so that's got to be a good thing.

People "march to the beat" of their own drummers, and activists try to "orchestrate" change, and having "a heart", the symbol of love, implies feeling the beat...We try and live in "harmony" with nature. Life moves in rhythms, from seasons and months and weeks and days, each moment filled with speech cadences, and natural sounds (whether that be car horns or croaking frogs) filling up our silences. Meditation and the sound of silence can be equally important to being grounded, clear, focused, happy. Our moods are easily expressed (and changed) by music, and we often have music playing in our heads. Sometimes, it's hard to shake a tune. Our lives have soundtracks. Musicians think differently. And music, in turn, affects our state of mind, beyond simply mood. Here! Hear! Music holds power!

I look forward to "hearing" (maybe I can get it on tape/cd?) how music, both somber and ecstatic, sometimes both, is interpreted by this talented individual.

It was judged one of the top books of 2007.

North American economy

N.A. is also Native America (not applicable?)

This website from '02 (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/northamerica/engecon.htm) tells us how lucky (or as my mom would say, blessed) we really are.

The U.S. and Canada (I don't think this site includes Mexico, which I think, technically, is a part of N.A.) has 7% of the world's population, while creating 1/3 of the world's economic output (which I assume means wealth, not weight of merchandise, or something).

This averages to an expected $27,300 per capita in N.A. in 2010, up from $22,200 in 2000 (5x the world average).

We rock, America!

You should be happy, therefore. If you're not, make the unhappy happy and reap the karmic rewards! Help meet some basic needs as a citizen of the world, and even surpass them.

Human Rights

Well, we all have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
(that doesn't mean hunting down and killing happy people)

The right to live means: We have the right to nutritious food, sanitation, clean water, effective shelter, and basic healthcare, I would say. I would also add it denies the right to an abortion.

The right to liberty means: you are not a captive audience to someone in your head, if you don't want he/she/them there, and you can do what you want, provided it doesn't infringe on the rights of others. Thinking about that, I actually disagree with that statement. I believe we should move away from the concept of "rights" and move toward what each individual wants for themselves. People are different, and "rights" is kind of an absurd word, when contrasted with "lefts" or "wrongs." So I would say you can do what you want, provided it doesn't infringe on the wishes of who you might perchance be acting upon. For example, x said "you're freedom to swing your fist ends at the tip of my nose." Someone entering willingly into a fight, however, gives up that right. So just do what you want, within the confines of what those around you want you to do. Perhaps this is too simplistic. People might want you to kill, for example. I would say you can kill, as long as the potential victim wants to die. But you better have that written on paper, with the writing on film, with a reliable stranger as a witness or something, is all I have to say.

The right to the pursuit of happiness entails not living hand to mouth, and being able to enjoy life, not as a slave or prisoner, but as someone who can pursue their own path to happiness from a comfortable position. This is not just about money or hedonism. This is about laughter, good food, entertainment, wellness, fitness, and love.

Let's see what else the the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says.

Human Rights Organizations
Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. They work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.

Human Right Watch (http://www.hrw.org/) is dedicated to protecting human rights of people around the world. They stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, uphold political freedom, protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.

Youth For Human Rights (http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/) is an independent non-profit that educates people about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.

Social Issues

SI is more than Sports, Illustrated

Pick an issue, any issue
Here is a (partial) list of social issues (from Wikipedia):
Abortion
Abuse
Adolescent pregnancy
Crime
Discrimination
Embryonic stem cell research
Genetic engineering
Gay rights
Gun control
HIV/AIDS
Homelessness
Human rights
Justice
List of sociology topics
Peace
Pollution
Population
Poverty : Malnutrition
Racism
Social discrimination
Social equality
Social integration
Social issues in the United States
Social work
Sociology
Unemployment
War

Types of Activism

Choose thy Weapon

A list of Wikipedia change primers:
Civil disobedience
Community building: 1)Activism industry 2)Cooperative movement 3)Craftivism 4)Voluntary simplicity
Economic activism: 1)Boycott 2)Divestment (a.k.a. Disinvestment)
Franchise activism
Lobbying
Media activism: 1)Culture jamming 2)Hacktivism 3)Internet activism
Propaganda: Guerrilla communication
Non-violent confrontation
Violent confrontation: 1)Rioting 2)Terrorism
Protest: 1)Demonstration 2)Direct action 3)Theater for Social Change 4)Protest songs
Strike action
Youth activism: 1)Student activism 2)Youth-led media

Also, there's: advocacy, community organizing, community practice, revolution, and political activism.

American Idol

Or, as I call it, the other A.I.

A.I. just held a benefit show (April 9), IDOL GIVES BACK – a special raising awareness and funds for organizations that provide relief programs to help children and young people in extreme poverty in America and Africa.

About the 2007 show:
http://www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2007/idol-gives-back-030807.html
It raised $76M.

The 2008 show ( http://www.americanidol.com/idolgivesback/ ) raised $22M overnight, but the event is still underway, with the door to online donations still open....
to benefit six charities. including: the Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund, Make It Right, Malaria No More, Save The Children, U.S. Programs and the Children's Health Fund. They also have a link to http://www.charitywater.org/ .

Britney Spears donated $25,000. Organizers of the show hope to raise more than $100 million.

Withdraw from the U.N.?

That would be Bad, I believe

This article, from Capitalism Magazine, by Edwin Feulner in 2003, thinks the U.S. should withdraw from the U.N., and that, barring that, the U.N. charter should be changed to allow "vital interests" to be a reason to go to war instead of "self-defense," even when the war is pre-emptive.

He also says, "The United Nations also risks becoming a debating society because the countries that pay next to nothing have the same power as the countries that contribute the most. The United States, for example, provides 22 percent of the U.N.'s general operating budget. By contrast, France, Great Britain, China and Russia combined contribute less than 15 percent. However, as members of the Security Council, each of those nations enjoys veto power over the U.S."

Finally, he says "the U.N. needs to start taking its job as international human rights watchdog seriously. In 2001, the United States was removed from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. We're back on now. But today, Libya chairs the commission."

Responding to Mr. Feulner:
I disagree with him on all 4 of these points.
1) The U.S. withdrawing from the U.N. would be a cowardly and selfish thing to do. The U.N. has high ideals, and works high-mindedly to make a better world. If our leading economists and politicians believe we could better serve the world by withdrawing, they better damn well make a cogent case, instead of "we're not getting our way, so we're going to withdraw."

The article says something about moving the U.N. headquarters to Baghdad from New York. This is the first I've heard of this. Is this the U.S. planning to abandon the U.N.? I hope, on the contrary, it is a move toward making the body less U.S. dominated. It serves the people, and the people are largely poor. The U.S. only accounts for x % of the world population. It accounts for x% of the world's wealth. The world needs us.

2) I think only "self-defense" should be a U.N. approved reason for going to war. Pre-emptive defense of a nation's "vital interests" is just too flimsy, when leaders can define that however they want. The whole world has a vital interest in safety, so that automatically pre-empts war, in my opinion.

3) His logic is flawed, in that the U.N. doesn't risk becoming a debating society because higher paying countries can be vetoed by lower paying ones. Action requires consensus, and effective leaders can build that consensus. Humanity all wants pretty much the same thing. Operating on that principle, I believe the U.N. can be an extraordinarily effective institution. Also, contribution to budget shouldn't necessarily define priorities of action for the body. Can't we all agree to focus on reducing suffering?

4) There's nothing wrong with Libya chairing, if however hypocritically, the human rights commission....as long as the most improvement possible comes from it. Maybe if Libya set the standard, despite it's past, it would be setting the best example. On the other hand, if a self-righteous America, which many in the world hate, chaired the commission, we would just draw criticism for our own human-rights problems, such as in jails/prisons, or with the detainees in Cuba.

UN Funding

FUN, rearranged

We all want to be superheroes. What's more superheroic than saving the world? Well, that's what the UN is trying to do, in a way. It has a global perspective, which we should all have, as citizens of the world (c.o.w's), in my opinion, because of the many issues which cross borders, such as war, terrorism, pollution, global warming, illegal or legal migration, trade, and the use of limited resources, such as oil, timber, or even food and water, which we may want to bequeath to our children.

The UN's budget is 4.2B ('08-'09). What the UN requires to fulfill it's 9,000+ mandates is y. The gap is z. The countries which aren't paying their fair share, computed by ?, are: abc. The U.S. pays 22%, but doesn't pay x enough. Write x, to lobby for change.

Maybe the United Nations should be like the United States. Nations are called states, in fact; sometimes, even nation-states. I'm not saying the Secretary-General should be a President of the World (P.O.W.), as I think the Pope likes that virtual position (in his own head, at least), as do I, in my weird and totally obscure way, but maybe we should consider having a more global form of governance, to address global needs and issues more effectively.

The governance hierarchy can run from local, county, state, federal, world, "universal" (i.e. catholic). I'm not sure we want the Pope telling aliens what to do, though. Just a fun little thought, I had.

About the U.N. Budget and it's recent growth.

The UN

The UN, says former ambassador Bolton, has over 9,000 mandates. I would like to know what they are, and what the pricetag for each one is.

While looking for a mandate list, which I could not find, not even on Wikipedia, I found this list of current issue categories the UN is working on:

Africa Ageing Agriculture AIDS Atomic Energy
Children Climate Change Culture
Decolonization Demining Development Cooperation Persons with Disabilities Disarmament Drugs & Crime
Education Elections Energy Environment
Family Food
Governance
Health Human Rights Human Settlements Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Assistance Indigenous People Information Communications Technology Intellectual Property International Finance Iraq
Labour International Law Oceans and the Law of the Sea Least Developed Countries
The Millennium UN General Assembly- The Goals -
Question of Palestine Peace & Security Population
Refugees
Science and Technology Social Development Outer Space Statistics Sustainable Development
Terrorism Trade & Development
Volunteerism
Water Women
Youth
I could not find any minimal or ideal funding requirements listed.

What I did find:
Mm, a bottle of frosty MDG

"The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest." That's 8 years, everyone. (we're almost halfway through the first)

These 8 goals are:
1. eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. achieve universal primary education
3. promote gender equality, and empower women
4. reduce child mortality
5. improve maternal health
6. combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. ensure environmental sustainability
8. develop a global partnership for development

The secretary general says this will take sustained effort until the deadline, and requires development aid double (from x to y).

I don't know what the UN says x and y are, but Bjorn Lomborg quoted 150B/yr as 2-3x the global development aid amount, which would solve 1/2 of "all major problems" in the world, which I suppose is UN ballpark. Why don't we give FAR more than enough, collectively? hep! hep!

A call to action

My letter to TED

The world has 6.7B people, and 47(?)T dollars. I'm a stubborn idealist who still thinks all problems can be solved. The monetary figure could be one dollar or 100T, it doesn't matter: if we all worked toward global well-being, we'd all be happy, I believe. Global happiness is the objective.

Making others happy makes me happy. I'm not the only one. Come on people, now, smile on your brother.. They say happiness is a warm gun, mama. Well, rage against the machine can also be called for, but use a paintball gun, or box, or find a healthy outlet for your (justified) anger and aggression. Seriously, we live in a world where the richest man has 48B dollars and another might be poor, in every respect: penniless and homeless and raped and tortured, if not killed, like maybe a refugee in Darfur or a slave in Mali that sells for $40. Not to mention those that suicide out of despair. Action, not apathy, is necessary. Life should be enjoyable.

I would like to hear Bjorn discuss Lester Brown's Plan B3.0 (which estimates the cost of "saving the world" at..) Where do I go to see the calculus behind his decisions? Specifically, how much would it cost to solve ALL the world's problems (or core ones, at least)?

I would add two points to his presentation: priorities should be ranked by human suffering (not just effectiveness/bang for buck), and problems should be solved in the order that will help solve other problems (to create a snowball effect).

Plan B(maybe it's 2.0) is online. I think we shouldn't just rely on Bill Gates, for example, or governments to solve our problems, although they can certainly be a (big) part. 1) We need a movement that focuses people's creative energies and money and time to solving pastma problems (pain agony suffering torment misery anguish), with the realization that helping and sharing is a selfish act: it pays greater rewards/dividends than you lose (if you're basic needs are met). 2) Just do it. Solve a problem. Buy a micro-loan. Donate an aqua-trike or malaria net. Go to a developing country. Help create spirulina production. Build a sandfilter. Etc. Recruit others. Write letters. 3) Maybe a tax, higher for richer, none for those at poverty line, that feeds a fund to do good, globally.

I'll add this: Maybe it's time for a new category of government. There is local, state, and federal. We live in a global economy, or as Hillary said, a "global village." Perhaps, if not exactly a global government, we should, as a planet, all pay a well-structured tax to solve core global problems, perhaps paid to each of our respective countries' governments, if not the UN. Those who need help wouldn't have to pay, but everyone else would pay according to their ability, i.e. a rising percentage with rising wealth.

Am I rediscovering the wheel? This is basically from each according to his ability, to each according to his need, except I'm defining the need as basic needs, not a need for a yacht or mansion or maserati or even cable tv. Then again, maybe we shouldn't force charity. Also, charity may make people dependent. We, as a human community, have to solve the problems of suffering on our planet. That's all I'm saying.

We have more than enough money. Humans only need x water, x food, and shelter. Other than that, they can get companionship, love, friendship and exercise/fitness all for free. Libraries are free. A car doesn't have to be a necessity, it can be a luxury. In any case, they can be shared and carpooled. Public transportation could be fun, not a dismal silent chore. What's wrong with talking to people? WAKE UP!