Hey
I have been lax in making postings but I do not figure that I have anybody reading so what did it matter. I have some time so I figured that I could riff on things and add some of my observations to this. Here it goes.
I was saddened to read of Hunter S. Thompson killing himself. I could see him doing that to himself, which is his right, but that did not mean I wanted it to happen. Then again, I have enjoyed reading his writings but it was apparent that his best work was in the past. Still, he has accomplished more than I have, so I am not criticizing his body of work.
On to my observational rant of the day, really it is a past one, however, it must be said. Back in November (2004) Elton John was in the news rather frequently. He was having all sorts of hissy fits, pissing on other artists in the media (formerly the press, now it is media) like Madonna, not that she does not deserve it, with the faux English accent and faux Judiasm. Anyway, Sir Elton explained it away as the product of being creative.
Creative???!!!!!!! This is a guy whose best work is over thirty years old. He is milking his old gig. I do not begrudge him that but to say he is rather "creative"? I do not see it, notwithstanding his scoring of Aida and The Lion King. I mean how creative was his "Candle in the Wind" for the Princess of Wales, Diana? The song itself was written a good twenty years earlier. Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back, Sir Elton!
Still with Sir Elton, again do not get me wrong I like his music of the seventies, I just have not seen or heard anything really memorable from him since then, I recall catching a video with Kiki Dee in 1976 (Don't Go Breakin' my Heart). Man, he was well into his male pattern baldness. The next night I see some special with him and the Spice Girls (it must have been the late 90s) and there is Sir Elton with a full head of hair. It was thicker than Stalin's hair for crying out loud. I just found that hair hat to be rather funny. Vain little artists and their hissy fits. Film at 11!
I do see the irony in me making that statement. I just wonder what I can blame my rages on. It cannot be fame or even talent. That is not true, I do have talent, it is just more unconventional and not been shared, marketed, rented, sold to the general mass world. I know I am creative so I am more high strung, emotional and prone to comment on the "injustice" I see in the world. Then again, who ever said life was fair.
It just occurred to me. If Sir Elton was getting the Stalin hair hat, could he not have got the matching moustache? I mean it is not as if he could not afford it.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Must check in
I just do not have anything to say today. I mean you must be glad that I made that clear. I should say that the trial in my posting yesterday was declared a mistrial. It appears that the girlfriend, who was the Crown's chief witness, may have perjured herself. Her profile and postings regarding blood lust appeared on a Vampire website and blog. Her credibility is now called into question. The two accomplices may walk and the brother may end up with a plea to manslaughter. What a crock!!! The brother may get away with his "impulse control disorder". This is another victory for junk science or really new age crap that is trying to pass itself off as science.
I always liked science. It was ideally supposed to be objective. The subjectivity removed by experiment and observation. In reality, the objectivity has been poisoned by politics. Now we have politics masquerading as science. Just look at Global Warming. I do believe that the globe has warmed over the while, but it is merely ASSUMED that it is man made or all man made cause. The models used are based on the same assumptions but those assumptions are not tested. It has become an article of faith that man is causing global warming. We are taking the word of biologists as gospel. The only problem is that biologist and the like only deal with the EFFECTS of these environmental changes. They have, in and of themselves, no sense of the history of the earth and what has occurred over various earth cycles. That is the nature of their discipline. They are prognosticating and diagnosing in areas that they are not necessarily expert in. We should look to the geologists and others who can and do study the earth's climatic past. It is these experts who have a sense of the climate cycles that the Earth has had.
It is these "junk" scientists pushing a political agenda and perverting this sense of objectivity who are very dangerous. They are free to espouse their opinions but those opinions and their credentials should be examined. Just because your cardiologist is smart does not mean you want him to diagnose your dermatoligical concerns.
I always liked science. It was ideally supposed to be objective. The subjectivity removed by experiment and observation. In reality, the objectivity has been poisoned by politics. Now we have politics masquerading as science. Just look at Global Warming. I do believe that the globe has warmed over the while, but it is merely ASSUMED that it is man made or all man made cause. The models used are based on the same assumptions but those assumptions are not tested. It has become an article of faith that man is causing global warming. We are taking the word of biologists as gospel. The only problem is that biologist and the like only deal with the EFFECTS of these environmental changes. They have, in and of themselves, no sense of the history of the earth and what has occurred over various earth cycles. That is the nature of their discipline. They are prognosticating and diagnosing in areas that they are not necessarily expert in. We should look to the geologists and others who can and do study the earth's climatic past. It is these experts who have a sense of the climate cycles that the Earth has had.
It is these "junk" scientists pushing a political agenda and perverting this sense of objectivity who are very dangerous. They are free to espouse their opinions but those opinions and their credentials should be examined. Just because your cardiologist is smart does not mean you want him to diagnose your dermatoligical concerns.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
The Beginning
Howdy to all out there. This is the first post by me, a self confessed well adjusted madman. I am looking to just riff and rant about the many things in life. I guess I should preface this all with my actual sense of wonder as if there is anybody out there who really cares what I have to say. I mean I would say my mother cares, but really I do not think that she does. It is not a bad thing. It just is.
That is going to be the ongoing thread throughout this....Things just are. All is good AND bad. I rarely inhabit the world of extremes. I live in this ambiguous jungle of ideas and life. The blacks and whites are easy, it is those damned shades of gray that cause most people trouble. I find no anxiety in the gray and ambiguous. Go figure!
I am writing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There has been a trial going on over here. A 17 year old and two of his friends are "alleged" to have killed the boy's 12 year old brother and attempted to kill the boy's step father. They have a tape made by one of the kids' girlfriend about an hour before the killing (71 hack wounds to the face and head before slicing his trachea and severing his carotid artery so that he choked to death on his own blood AFTER feeling the full pain of the hacking wounds--they bled so they would have had to have occurred before the "death blow" of the severing of the carotid). I wanted to give a little background to how grisly it was. Anyway, they all plead innocent to first degree murder charges, which is their wont and right. I mean the state must prove its case.
The non-related two have basically said that the brother (older) did it in an unexplained rage and that they had nothing to do with the actual killing. The brother, this is where I am going to rant, had a forensic psychiatrist diagnose him with some sort of "impulse control disorder". Now, this may be me being cynical but I have always loved psychiatry and psychology and I did go to law school, but it seems this "diagnosis" is purely descriptive. This psychiatrist has merely taken his "rage" issues and put some sort of psychiatric jargon to it. It says NOTHING and means NOTHING! It is one of those things that has NO value. Her "diagnosis" adds no value. I mean this kid had some anger issues and trouble, now there is the claim of an actual "disorder"?
When I grew up, which was not too long ago, it was called adolescence. The raging hormones and fact that nobody "understood". I mean my parents did not go through it before me. Nobody went through it. These feelings are all NEW to the world since I am first feeling them. I am being sarcastic, which does not necessarily come across in the written word as well as would if spoken. It is enough to make me scream. I think that I am starting to do that Lewis Black poking thing with my fingers as I type. That makes it really hard to type, I will say.
Ulitmately, the greatest sadness must rest with the mother. Her youngest son is dead as a result of her oldest son and he could be in prison for life, which he should be given the facts. She has to live with "losing" both of her children.
We could blame her for being a lousy parent but that would be unfair. The latest studies do show that parents have little effect on how their children turn out. The greatest influence is their peer group. Great that is just another thing I have to worry about with my son and how he will turn out. I control so damn little and so do you! Get used to it and go with the flow.
That is going to be the ongoing thread throughout this....Things just are. All is good AND bad. I rarely inhabit the world of extremes. I live in this ambiguous jungle of ideas and life. The blacks and whites are easy, it is those damned shades of gray that cause most people trouble. I find no anxiety in the gray and ambiguous. Go figure!
I am writing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There has been a trial going on over here. A 17 year old and two of his friends are "alleged" to have killed the boy's 12 year old brother and attempted to kill the boy's step father. They have a tape made by one of the kids' girlfriend about an hour before the killing (71 hack wounds to the face and head before slicing his trachea and severing his carotid artery so that he choked to death on his own blood AFTER feeling the full pain of the hacking wounds--they bled so they would have had to have occurred before the "death blow" of the severing of the carotid). I wanted to give a little background to how grisly it was. Anyway, they all plead innocent to first degree murder charges, which is their wont and right. I mean the state must prove its case.
The non-related two have basically said that the brother (older) did it in an unexplained rage and that they had nothing to do with the actual killing. The brother, this is where I am going to rant, had a forensic psychiatrist diagnose him with some sort of "impulse control disorder". Now, this may be me being cynical but I have always loved psychiatry and psychology and I did go to law school, but it seems this "diagnosis" is purely descriptive. This psychiatrist has merely taken his "rage" issues and put some sort of psychiatric jargon to it. It says NOTHING and means NOTHING! It is one of those things that has NO value. Her "diagnosis" adds no value. I mean this kid had some anger issues and trouble, now there is the claim of an actual "disorder"?
When I grew up, which was not too long ago, it was called adolescence. The raging hormones and fact that nobody "understood". I mean my parents did not go through it before me. Nobody went through it. These feelings are all NEW to the world since I am first feeling them. I am being sarcastic, which does not necessarily come across in the written word as well as would if spoken. It is enough to make me scream. I think that I am starting to do that Lewis Black poking thing with my fingers as I type. That makes it really hard to type, I will say.
Ulitmately, the greatest sadness must rest with the mother. Her youngest son is dead as a result of her oldest son and he could be in prison for life, which he should be given the facts. She has to live with "losing" both of her children.
We could blame her for being a lousy parent but that would be unfair. The latest studies do show that parents have little effect on how their children turn out. The greatest influence is their peer group. Great that is just another thing I have to worry about with my son and how he will turn out. I control so damn little and so do you! Get used to it and go with the flow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
