tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86350125356653994212024-03-13T04:36:38.132-07:00Happier than the Tyrant729 writes stuff, finds stuff, and posts it here.729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-42992147182569069832011-02-26T13:31:00.001-08:002011-02-26T13:32:13.152-08:00Y U NO CONSTRUCTIVE?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9xvkqKAUqYOofihia0CnYrwoEt4rM8P-VE44XOWKgWDL33e6DXJZLlLE5aZuaHFY_USpHXLieZUEg4pNOhOOUjMZzCkVm4gSRDLEoF83nRxnuWYTJzHipL0turfLW6qCmKf8JzQT-_a6/s1600/YU+NO+Philosophers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9xvkqKAUqYOofihia0CnYrwoEt4rM8P-VE44XOWKgWDL33e6DXJZLlLE5aZuaHFY_USpHXLieZUEg4pNOhOOUjMZzCkVm4gSRDLEoF83nRxnuWYTJzHipL0turfLW6qCmKf8JzQT-_a6/s320/YU+NO+Philosophers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-55610876811403192562011-02-04T14:19:00.000-08:002011-02-04T14:19:37.376-08:00Superpowerist Presumption: “Secret Agent” Revisited<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A while back I reported on the assumption by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Super-powers That Be</i> that I possessed Identity Morph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phone calls for Dxxxx Cxxxx that I was intercepting revealed my failure to morph into whatever roles the last person who had my phone number possessed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mysterious Agencies calling for Dxxxx Cxxxx were unprepared for my interceptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was unable to convince the agents of these cloaked enterprises that they had the wrong number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The latest Agency has advanced a new strategy: Identity Transference by Fiat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This superpower may seem similar to Identity Morph, yet there are subtle, important differences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Identity Morph power is one in which a super-powered person has the capacity transform their Identity in some manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note the presumption involved is that (1) a person is, in fact, super-powered, (2) has the capacity to effect his or her own identity transformation and (3) will make this transformation upon request by the proper Agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes to Identity Transference by Fiat, the Agency itself, utilizing its own superpowers, effects the Identity change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I discovered that this strategy was now in play when I listened to a message on my voicemail:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hello, this is a message for Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are not Dxxxx Cxxxx please hang up the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you remain on the line this means that you are Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will be a three second delay and if you remain on the line after this delay you have affirmed that you are Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Three second delay occurs.] Since you have remained on the line you have affirmed you are Dxxxx Cxxxx. Dxxxx Cxxxx must call 1-866-XXX-XXX to speak with an agent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At first I was baffled by this message, as my voicemail greeting indicates my name and that I am not at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On further reflection I realized that, quite clearly, this made no difference to the Agency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone picking up the phone, literally <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone</i> staying on the line past the three second interval was to become at that instant Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It so happened that my voicemail would have to be, in the Agency’s reckoning, an acceptable representative of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why, a small child picking up the phone, not understanding the content, and remaining on the line would become Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Likewise, a deaf or hard of hearing person would become Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, any super-powered person could counter the Identity Transformation with their own Identity Morph powers or, not possessing this power, activate Force Field powers, or merely hang up the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone lacking their own Identity Morph powers, Force Field powers would be left helpless and now transformed into Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such is the great injustice operating in our Superpowerist culture.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, I am presently Dxxxx Cxxxx against my will with no way to change back to the superpowerless identity I have long embraced and cherished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is the temptation to speculate that this move on the part of the Agency was a conspiracy to silence my efforts to expose Superpowerism and its injustices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, I am proud to report that my ability to resist and refuse remains as strong as ever—even strengthened by this new assault on my identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether Dxxxx Cxxxx or 729, I am happier than the tyrant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I have cancelled my phone number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gone mobile, VoIP and free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch out.</div><!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-19362225553193690302011-01-18T09:41:00.000-08:002011-01-18T09:41:59.540-08:00Aguirre: Wrath of Dog<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am the wrath of dog. Who else is with me?</span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i> There was a time when I liked dogs. That time is past. Maybe I should have known. But how could I have known? It isn’t as though you buy a condo thinking that some of your neighbors will walk their dogs in the parking area. Not their own parking area. The other parking area where we are. These neighbors don’t believe in picking up their dogs’ shit. We posted one of those signs, “If your dog poops, please scoop.” This gesture was meaningless. By late autumn, after months and months of this, the shit added up. Imagine a parking area that was for cars and dog shit—the dog shit vastly outnumbering the cars.<br />
<br />
You might think that there was some sort of management that would take care of this. Management taking care of this came in the form of an email to all the residents:<br />
<br />
DOG OWNERS MUST CLEAN UP AFTER THEIR DOGS. THERE WILL BE CONSECENCES [sic] IF RESIDENT’S [sic] DONT [sic] COMPLY.<br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This email came in mid-summer. The tide of dog shit rose unabated: a consequence.<br />
<br />
The bravest of us tried to catch the offending dog owners in the act. They pointed out the plain truth about the situation to the owners and requested that they walk their dogs elsewhere in the very least. Barely admitting to the problem, the dog owners reluctantly would move away from the parking area, dogs in tow. Once caught, the dog owners began to time their dog walking when other residents had gone off to work. It became more difficult to catch them. When my schedule allowed me to leave at an odd time, I spied one of the owners and took out my camera-phone and started recording her. I said nothing as I did this. She turned away from the camera—in shame? It was hard to tell. I did the same thing a couple of days later and she ran off literally dragging her dog behind her. Had I freaked her out? Not at all. She, too, changed the time of her dog walking so I never came across her again. Instead, I came across piles of dog shit by my driver side door. I recognized the dog shit, too. Message received.<br />
<br />
We had considered the option of cleaning up after the dogs ourselves; a disgraceful option considered only on account of necessity. Such reflection lasted but a moment. This wasn't merely because these dogs weren't </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">our dogs</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, but on account of another equally hideous situation into which we’d locked ourselves. The recycling. Some neighbors, we had no idea if they were the ones with the dogs, refused to recycle--even after a notice indicating that recycling was now the law. Improperly bagged garbage and unseparated recycling would result in the suspension of a residence’s garbage collection. I suppose the anti-recyclers didn’t believe this could happen. It sure enough did. Someone had to go through all the backed-up garbage and messed up recycling and fix it so that our building pick-up would resume. This responsibility fell upon us. No one else volunteered. After the massive cleanup of the garbage and recycling another email from management was sent:<br />
<br />
RESIDENTS MUST RECYCLE IN ACORD [sic] WITH THE LAW. WE HAVE TO PAY A FEE TO THE TOWN TO HAVE PICKUP RESUMED AND THAT WILL BE ADDED TO THE FEES THIS MONTH.<br />
<br />
The onus of the fee fell on everyone equally, despite the fact that it was only certain residents that weren't recycling. The fee amounted to only a few dollars for everyone, but it seemed to inspire something close to a change in behavior. Things that had to be recycled were now placed </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">near</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the recycling bins. Boxes of all kinds and sizes were not broken down, as required, but placed </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as is</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in this area. Often other garbage was placed inside them. Sometimes this was in bags. Sometimes whole, unbroken-down boxes were placed inside the paper recycling bin. This would result in the garbage collectors leaving this bin full. The town meant business. We got another email:<br />
<br />
RESIDENTS MUST BREAK DOWN CARDBOARD BOXES. THE TOWN WILL NOT COLLECT IMPROPRLY [sic] RECYCLES [sic]. WE WILL BE FINED AND HAVE TO PAY.<br />
<br />
This threat of a new fine didn’t work as well as we hoped. Some residents kept putting the whole boxes beside the bins and inside the bins. It was too difficult for them. We gave up. Each time one of us went to the recycling area we’d break down one or two of the boxes. Throw out the trash, break down some extra boxes. This became part of our lives.<br />
<br />
One time I discovered an entire set of Crate and Barrel boxes nested together, inviolate, like a set of Russian Dolls. The name and apartment number of the person who received the Crate and Barrel delivery was right there on the box. I broke down the boxes, but took one of the smaller sized boxes and wrote on a space near the label:<br />
<br />
Hi, Could you please break down your boxes and not just leave them in the recycling area? They won’t be collected otherwise. : ) [Yes, I put a smiley face. Those were better, different times.]<br />
<br />
I placed the box at the door of the person’s apartment. The smiley face did no good. The next day I noticed a whole new set of Crate and Barrel boxes. This time the person made the effort of tearing off the identifying label. It was back to the old drill of breaking down the boxes like a custodial staff.<br />
<br />
We realized that cleaning up after the dogs would be a similar exercise in futility. We would always have to do it, if we started doing it. We chose to live with the dog shit. At least for a while. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first snowfall came, covering the massive amount of dog shit beneath pure white drifts. This lasted not even a day. The dog shit accumulated immediately, highlighted in its surroundings, announcing itself remorselessly. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
What was it in an exact split second that ignited my rage? Was it the image in my mind of the new dog shit lying atop the old dog shit, an archaeological vision of canine waste that would melt away in the spring into a gigantic dog shit stew? Was it my horror at the recognition that there would be no stopping this constant stream of dog shit in my life? Did I flail against the fact that I actually lived with such people in my vicinity and that there was no help for humankind? That it was such people, in all their banal laziness, that sealed our doom?<br />
<br />
I did not believe I could reason or effect the human owners involved. That was impossible. The only possible target for my rage was the dogs. It was not their fault. This I knew. This I understood. At the same time, I became obsessed. What would cause the dogs simply to stop shitting in the parking area? I knew there must be an answer to this question. I turned to the internet.<br />
<br />
There are many products claiming to repel dogs from areas. They are expensive. It is also unclear how well they work. On the net I found advice, vinegar, ammonia, anything citrus. These DIY options were considerably cheaper than the commercially available dog repellents one could buy at pet stores. According to the internet, the active ingredient in the commercial dog repellents was citrus scent. A quick trip to the local supermarket had me flush with an array of supplies. Two gallon jugs of cheap vinegar. Ammonia and bleach, no name brands. Environmentally friendly citrus cleaner. Lemon juice. I was ready. </span><br />
<br />
Day 1: Vinegar. The parking area smells like a salad. A giant salad. It’s the middle of the afternoon. The coast was clear, and the vinegar application went perfectly. There’s no way to see the vinegar. It’s blended into the snow drifts. I poured it on the dog shit. Take that you fuckers. Poop somewhere else. There’s a new scent in town.<br />
<br />
Day 2: Holding. No new dog shit. Must reapply Vinegar. Two gallons just covers the area. I am cautiously elated.<br />
<br />
Email in the evening from neighbor: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">“I can smell the vinegar, but it’s not working. There’s a load near my car door.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><br />
I respond: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">“Thanks for letting me know. I will redouble my efforts. Switch method."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><br />
Day 3: Ammonia. I worry at first as I drizzle it into the snow and over the dog shit. This is bad, bad for the environment, bad for the dogs. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Fuck them.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial;"><br />
Day 4: Holding. Snow predicted for later. I will have to get out early and reapply.<br />
<br />
Day 5: Freshly fallen snow. Fresh dog shit. I think it’s in a spot that I neglected to reapply the ammonia. How could it be there? How? I must chart my course more carefully from now on. Cross-hatch. More ammonia. Careful. Clean.<br />
<br />
Day 6: Holding. Cold. Very cold.<br />
<br />
Day 7: Frozen dog-shit. Where did it come from? I go for the citrus. I thought nothing could beat the ammonia. That’s what the internet said. But the citrus, why didn’t I just go for the citrus from the start? The <i>active</i> ingredient. Surely no dog can withstand the citrus.<br />
<br />
Day 8: Dogs withstand the citrus. What kind of dogs are these? Are they even really dogs? Petco has dog repellent, $17 a box. I’ll need three of them. At least three. The manufacturer promises satisfaction. Any price, satisfaction.<br />
<br />
Day 9: I can’t get no…<br />
<br />
Something is not right.<br />
<br />
Everything is wrong.<br />
<br />
The world is wrong.<br />
<br />
I am wrongness, feel my impotence.<br />
<br />
Day 10: Vigil: I must get to the bottom of this. Brew coffee. Up at 4:30 AM. I perch in the hallway by a window. Video camera ready. I will wait.<br />
<br />
6:00 AM: See woman with dogs coming from around the other side of the building. Jackpot. Three dogs. Woman. As she approaches, I see that she has a pooper scooper. Bag full of dog shit.<br />
<br />
I am recording.<br />
<br />
On the view-finder screen I watch her walk through the parked cars in our parking area. She dumps the dog shit here and there, emptying the bag.<br />
<br />
I am recording still while she walks away, the dogs yapping all around her.<br />
</span></span>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-38828713059346037712010-12-21T15:46:00.000-08:002010-12-26T13:24:30.281-08:00Eastern APA Boston Job Candidate Hair Styling<b>Cancelled due to blizzard.</b><br />
<br />
In keeping with tradition, this year's job candidate on-site hair salon (make-up, women's suit loaners also) will proceed. <br />
<br />
Every year candidates ask about how to dress for an interview. Dressing professionally is a good idea, although I recommend attention to hair. The reason is simple. Interviewers will be staring at your head. A good haircut and style will go far. But what about on-site improvements? I do not cut hair. However, if candidates--of any gender--would like to have help styling their hair (blow-drying, straightening, curling, hair products), please email me. (See profile.)<br />
<br />
I also have small size (size 4ish) women's two piece suits that I can loan. They are stylish, professional and *lucky*. <br />
<br />
I'll need advance notice in order to know what days/times we can meet up.729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-86892556481716717642010-09-09T14:06:00.000-07:002010-09-09T14:09:48.773-07:00Superpowerist Presumption: “Secret Agent” Edition<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"> Among all Super-Powers, the power of Identity-Morph is among the most rare and powerful powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Clark Kent transforms into Superman, five teenagers transform into the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In a world of Super-powered people, these legendary Super-Powered fighting forces have attained a status beyond the typical super-powered person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Something of some kind must activate the Identity-Morph, a coin, a phone call, a beacon in the night sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Their Identities must remain secret at all costs, so the bonds of a Super-Powered fighting force are, themselves, powerful, as is the mechanism that sets up activation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A Super-Powerless person is utterly helpless against such secret bonds and mechanisms.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">It seems that I currently posses the former phone number of one of the great Identity-Morphs, a certain D.C., from whom I inherited my phone number when I moved to my current address several years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Within an hour after my telephone (landline) service was connected, I received an automated phone call:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“This is a call for Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Please call<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>*loud static* at *loud static* or remain on the line *more loud static*.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The call was intended for D.C., so I did not remain on the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Every day after that I received the same automated call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sometimes at 8:00 AM on the weekends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ordinary people also called for DC and I was able to tell them that DC no longer had this phone number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>These people would apologize for bothering me and did not call back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Only the automated call persisted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The periods of static on the tape seemed intentional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Whoever was behind the automated phone call wished to mask their identity in secrecy and render it impossible to contact him, her or “it.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would have to remain on the line to uncover the mystery. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So I did.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The static of the automated phone call recording gave way after a while to some clicks that indicated the call was going through some system to an operator of some sort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A woman with a nasal voice, comically close to being the voice of an old-time phone operator began speaking to me:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Dxxxx Cxxxx, thank you for contacting us,” she said.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Um, I’m not Dxxxx Cxxxx,” I replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“This is XXX-XXX-XXXX,” the operator said.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yes, it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But I’m not Dxxxx Cxxxx,” I said.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Please, put Dxxxx Cxxxx on the phone then,” the operator said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She seemed annoyed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Dxxxx Cxxxx does not live here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You have the wrong phone number for Dxxxx Cxxxx.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“If this is XXX-XXX-XXXX, that is Dxxxx Cxxxx’s phone number.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Um, no it isn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Not anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I just moved to XXXXX and received this phone number.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“If this is XXX-XXX-XXXX, it is Dxxxx Cxxxx’s phone number,” the operator repeated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Clearly, something was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Basic, sound explanation seemed meaningless to her, but I persisted.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Um, you’re not understanding me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I just received this new phone number one week ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am not Dxxxx Cxxxx, but a new resident, and I have a different address than the person you are looking for [I knew this from talking with the ordinary people looking for D.C.].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You have the wrong number now.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“If you have answered the phone, we have the correct phone number,” the operator informed me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“Did you hear what you just said?” I asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>At this point I was pushed beyond perplexity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My patience was at its end.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“If YOU have answered the phone,” the operator repeated, “we have the correct phone number.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CORRECT PHONE NUMBER FOR Dxxxx Cxxxx!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I AM NOT Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No one here is Dxxxx Cxxxx!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">“We will call you back when you CALM DOWN, MA’MAM.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The operator hung up.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><o:p> </o:p>Indeed, the automated calls continued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As the year progressed new automated messages came and went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They were from agencies with strange names like, “IntraTell Corp.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>and “AdvanceIT.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Whenever I saw the name of some bizarre company on my caller ID, I knew it was another agency seeking Dxxxx Cxxxx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This person was important, and, crucially, the phone number associated with Dxxxx Cxxxx was just as important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There was no way to disassociate the two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They were linked at a profound level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I realized that this link was so profound that it could only be explained by Super-Power Morph activation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The phone number I had received was the result of a mistake--a mistake attributable to Super-Powerist Presumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Whoever Dxxxx Cxxxx was as an “ordinary person,” Dxxxx Cxxxx must also have possessed the power of Morph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The mechanism of the automated phone call was clearly a means to activate the Morph power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Anyone possessing the phone number was also expected to possess the Morph power associated with the number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Being Super-Powerless to begin with, I was failing the system massively. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I had answered the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-55396803481215633632010-03-23T19:41:00.000-07:002010-03-23T20:17:52.767-07:00Ada Lovelace Day: Celebrating Ruth Barcan Marcus<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBarv3jKrfDRhNYJ2jBkWov3cGjA0slsbWnoUP7kDOIxe8ht9YC5VHZnFbJwyQ-XMq2wPnNl-euW-sfmZgZO7fQID1VYCnyjsVMMfdlIowJl2IIMvfsElk4DzcMxuSkueGOKBtsA_nCU6/s1600-h/ruth+marcus.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 114px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBarv3jKrfDRhNYJ2jBkWov3cGjA0slsbWnoUP7kDOIxe8ht9YC5VHZnFbJwyQ-XMq2wPnNl-euW-sfmZgZO7fQID1VYCnyjsVMMfdlIowJl2IIMvfsElk4DzcMxuSkueGOKBtsA_nCU6/s320/ruth+marcus.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452025645144493906" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Ruth Barcan Marcus</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="font-size:22.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: "Bookman Old Style";mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:14.0pt;color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-indent:.5in"><b><span style=" ;font-family:'Bookman Old Style';color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Ruth Barcan Marcus is a philosopher and logician and pioneering figure in the quantification of modal logic and the theory of direct reference. The Barcan Formula is named after her.</span></span></span></b></p><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 112px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6kTLreXVBOB85HqaHDvvFkClvVzb4sSElQc-OBKPrQEJp_IaN_x-wMaUsAe4LH9goagZ03nUlhUp2VshzwsB-BMRRgla1iikF5vFPOYhdqnUYf26RODqDqr8ktVxOrABkMd-LogBmaafH/s320/ruth+marcus2.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452028167608514562" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:15.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Bookman Old Style', serif;"><b></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-bottom: 6pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:15.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;">Education</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:13.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">PhD 1946, Yale University </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:13.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;">BA 1941, NYU</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:15.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Academic Appointments</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt; margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-.5in;mso-line-height-alt: 14.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:11.0pt .5in; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Prior to 1973: Chair of University of Illinois–Chi</span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt; margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-.5in;mso-line-height-alt: 14.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:11.0pt .5in; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">cago Philosophy Department, then Professor at Northwestern University.</span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt; margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in;mso-text-indent-alt:-.5in;mso-line-height-alt: 14.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:11.0pt .5in; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Since 1973: Halleck Professor at Yale, 1992, and then Senior Research Scholar at Yale and Visiting Distinguished Professor (One term per year) at UC, Irvine</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:2.0pt;line-height:28.0pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The Barcan Formula is </span></span></span></b><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">an axiom by Ruth Barcan Marcus, in the first extensions of modal propositional logic to include quantification.</span></span></span></b><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:19.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The Barcan Formula is:</span></span></span></b></p><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 159px; height: 15px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bsjSyxqetpEA0XWS3mUT1YAFrlBfhHnCKNfx-AyVK_kNLegqElEKvUSSL_Rjj5S3sV70jY2FHZwEJTeMHrwuFFYVyKviHV8AaZQCfyaa70LyQsl7HoYWwMtPcvSxt1wngJRVXi-AQM2k/s320/barcan+formula.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452027242761561122" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The statement reads: If everything is necessarily F, then it is necessary that everything is F. The Barcan formula has generated some controversy because it implies that all objects which exist in every possible world (accessible to the actual world) exist in the actual world. In other words, the domain of any accessible possible world is a subset of the domain of the actual world.</span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:19.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:19.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The Converse Barcan Formula is:</span></span></span></b></p><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 158px; height: 15px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYb14gd89dupfFk836UxMNRH4zysXexL1btP8Z_lZxYlwA7EJzEoW7uxxMLz0hDIdNRLwwG2vxP3jRvl4TyJuL7uzCyQgDhTy3L0bbGR5USsJjM2BHK2Elxy6ZtHOj9sVWOHCIQqpsoHW/s320/converse+barcan.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452027906807162962" /> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:19.0pt; mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">If a frame is based on a symmetric accessibility relation, then the Barcan formula will be valid in the frame if, and only if, the converse Barcan formula is valid in the frame.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><b>Personal note: I will never forget the first time I read about Ruth Barcan Marcus' work. It was while I was in graduate school, and was reading an essay by W.V.O. Quine in which he was arguing against modal logic. Quine referred to her as "Miss Barcan" while all the other (male) philosophers were referred to by last names. He had nothing good to say about her views, which seemed to me of a piece with his philosophical program and unsurprising, yet I was bothered. The etiquette seemed completely wrong. Even if, charitably, Ruth Barcan had not yet earned her doctorate, which would explain the reference to her as "Miss," she had nevertheless published work substantial enough that he thought it worth attack in print. Why not just "Barcan"? What did indicating Barcan's unmarried status have to do with intensional logic? </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><b>Later on, when I became aware of the controversy surrounding Barcan's work possibly being plagiarized or borrowed from by Kripke, (a controversy described in <a href="http://linguafranca.mirror.theinfo.org/Archive/whose.html">this article</a> by Jim Holt), it struck me that whatever the reality of the situation, there was a simple fact of the matter at hand. Looking around in the classrooms where I studied philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics and logic, women were scarce. Still. It was not true that women were not capable of the rigors of logic. Pioneers like Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper (developer of COBOL and pioneer of programming languages) and Ruth Barcan Marcus have been there all along. Under the radar--but why? Under-appreciated? Not any more, not on my watch.</b></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-23801561689262759762010-02-19T09:44:00.000-08:002010-02-19T09:48:43.305-08:00Best Business Practice<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011111010_birthdaygift18.html">On 81st Birthday, Oregon Man Gives Company to Employees</a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; "><h1 style="font-size: 23px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 25px; margin-top: 1px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><br /></h1></span>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-5515927284102014862010-02-17T23:27:00.000-08:002010-02-17T23:28:11.033-08:00Best Facebook Comment<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, 'BitStream vera Sans', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; white-space: pre-wrap; "><a href="http://failbooking.com/2010/02/17/funny-facebook-fails-24-mall-edition/"><img src="http://cheezfailbooking.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/unny-facebook-241.png" alt="Funny Facebook Fails " title="funny-facebook-24" width="504" height="927" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3124" /></a><br />see more <a href="http://failbooking.com">funny facebook </a> stuff!</span>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-36463480243437294142010-02-14T23:05:00.000-08:002010-02-14T23:06:00.436-08:00Political Campaign Finance Reform 2.0<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m just as pissed off about the recent Supreme Court Decision on corporate financed “free speech” as the next person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>(Look, if you aren’t one of the pissed off people, I don’t understand you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just leave now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Please.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Seriously.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>So, what do we do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But, maybe, that’s wrong, or not the entire story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There is a looming credibility problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I could be off about this, but it’s not as though the advertisement industry hasn’t had to jump through stunning amounts of self-reflexive hoops in order to make quotidian sorts of commercials for products even remotely interesting for mass audiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now that political campaigns can’t remotely pretend not to be corporate sponsored, the ad-race is going to be on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Think about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The amount of money that can now be funneled into campaign ads is ghastly, astronomical, beyond the pale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But when all this money gets thrown into the process, it very well may be the undoing of any and all campaign ads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Let political candidates A, B and C advertise exactly like McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This will be the precise point at which people generally will become bored in a huge way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Political candidates offering a dollar menu deal, and ever-new catchy “Lovin’ it” songs and hip visuals with giant production values will become just so much noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sure, people still, unfortunately, eat at McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s, but when was the last time anyone ever took anything seriously about their ads?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What we really need is to put a limitation on candidate’s endorsement of ads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>People and corporations can spend as much as they want on ads backing whatever candidates they chose, but none of the candidates can say that they “approve the ad” unless the ad cost less than, say, $300 to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Steven Spielberg can offer to direct an ad, but he’ll have to do it for free, and the ad would have to appear on PBS, on free-access network time, youtube or a .org website.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Corporations can spend as much as they want, but they can’t state that the candidate “approved the ad.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Yeah, this will never happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But it should. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Noise, the unintended consequence of this mess, will make the candidates who use youtube and production values of 0 dollars more viable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Imagine someone just sitting there using their computer to say stuff or having to do interviews, engage in debates in order to get material for their ads and that being the content “approved” by the candidate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> You can say I'm a dreamer...</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-33263834332868699382010-02-13T10:36:00.000-08:002010-02-13T10:42:31.025-08:00Daily Show Strikes Again<a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-february-11-2010/the-apparent-trap">Two for one clip</a>. The Apparent Trap followed by John Oliver's report on Hawaiian Universal heath-care:729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-18012990037421444802010-02-12T00:54:00.000-08:002010-02-12T01:02:09.385-08:00Jan Palmowski of King's College, London: The Most Disgraceful Academic Administrator Alive?<a href="http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2010/02/jan-palmowski-of-kings-college-london-the-most-corrupt-academic-administrator-alive.html" target="_blank">Leiter Article</a><br /><br /><p><br />There are petitions and other news on this on the Leiter blog and Facebook.<br /></p>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-20673736934302369812010-01-10T18:26:00.000-08:002010-01-10T18:34:13.294-08:00Unconsidered Third Option: Post on Internet<div>This one just appeared in my inbox today. I seem to have been selected randomly, addressed as 'teacher'. The author requests a confirmation or refutation of his definition of philosophy. I shall do neither: </div><div><br /></div><div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">Dear Teacher,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>As a teacher of philosophy can you please confirm or refute that philosophy is the study of understanding.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>Where: Understanding is the bestowing of meaning upon observations.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>Meaning is the realisation obtained by applying beliefs to the observations of an understanding -the use of reason.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>There are Two Kinds Of Beliefs:</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">i. Control the Understanding -those bestowed by nature and modified by infancy in the creation of an understanding so are unchangeable: that is, the instincts and infantile experiences, which dictate what the creature should, or should not, do - survive, eat, sleep, multiply, etc.- thus allowing the recognition of right from wrong, and are the morality of the understanding. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">ii. Tools of the Understanding - those revealed by the understanding's experience of cause and effect. That is, if you step off a cliff you fall, and these axioms, which are collected and refined throughout the life of the understanding, allow the recognition of true or false and are the knowledge of the understanding.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">-this Morality and Knowledge together form the beliefs, or truths, of the understanding. These beliefs, along with its observations, are the understanding. Hence:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">Truth is the beliefs, or realisations, of an understanding, and form the reality of an understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>Reality is the creation of an understanding as it is the remembered meanings, or experience, of an understanding and consists of:</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">i.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>The nature of the understanding</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">Its senses<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>ii.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">The position of the understanding<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">What it can observe<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>iii.</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>The experience of the understanding</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">The meaning it realises. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier">Wisdom is the habits (traditions) adopted by an understanding to achieve the greatest benefit from its reality.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>These beliefs convert Philosophy into a useful tool-a science. This science of philosophy explains not only understanding, reality, and truth, but also language (the medium of understanding) and society (a shared understanding). These explanations allow a better understanding of ourselves by revealing why humanity behaves the way it does in forming a civilization (a dominant society) and why such a society waxes (refines its understanding) then wanes (loses its understanding).</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Courier, serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family: Courier;mso-bidi-font-family:Courier"><o:p>Kind Regards,</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination: none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Courier, serif;">[Redacted --person I do not know w/ .com thing]</span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-39972292253336492752010-01-02T17:41:00.000-08:002010-01-02T17:42:41.714-08:00Super-Powerist Presumption: A Guide for the Oppressed Part 3<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">3: On the Job</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">There are many situations in the workplace that discriminate against the Super-Powerless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is unlikely that these discriminatory practices will become illegal any time soon, so the burden rests on us to inform the Super-Powered and take what actions we can in the face of unfair practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Although this burden is unjust, we must view it as an opportunity to shed increasing light on Super-Powerism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Among the many disadvantages the Super-Powerless encounter on the job, the most subtle and insidious of the Super-Powers we are presumed to have is that of Alternate Universe Travel (a.k.a. Universe Walking).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">It is important not to confuse Alternate Universe Travel with Time Travel, although these two powers are frequently elided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Time Traveler has the ability to go back or forward in time changing the course of events in this universe, while the ability to traverse Multiple and/or Alternate Universes permits the traveler to act simultaneously in a number of different universes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A Super-Powerless individual will rarely, if ever, experience the effects of Time-Travelers’ activities, since the Super-Powerless cannot in principle follow along with Time Travelers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Changes in this universe caused by changes in the past will simply be experienced by the Super-Powerless as their own ordinary lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is not the case with respect to Alternate Universe Travelers’ actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A Super-Powered individual acting in multiple universes simultaneously necessarily leaves behind the Super-Powerless in this universe, the only universe the Super-Powerless have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Super-Powered presume that all other people, also having Super-Powers, have access to the other universes, but are mistaken in their presumption.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">Recently, I was waiting on an email that was supposed to have an important file attached, a file containing a project that had to meet a deadline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Initially, I had no suspicions that I was dealing with a Super-Powered person, Carly, and no indication that she was a Universe Walker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Our email exchanges were concise and professional, and it seemed to me that the deadline would be met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Things started to unravel when I received an email late in the afternoon on the due date:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">I have been trying for over an hour to send you the document, but the email keeps bouncing back to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I don’t know what’s going wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’ve tried reformatting it and sending it in several versions, but the same thing keeps happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unfortunately, I need to leave now so that I can pick up my father at the airport when his flight gets in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sometime later on tonight, after I get my dad settled in, I’ll try emailing it to you again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’ll definitely be able to get it to you tomorrow at the latest, even if I need to print it out and fed-ex it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You know how much this project means to me, and I will get it to you.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">When I received this email, I responded immediately instructing Carly that in the circumstances she should copy and paste the content of the document into a reply email—even if it took several emails, and to attach any jpegs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We’d lose any special fonts, but she should indicate what they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I would stay late and reconstruct the document, but the problem would be solved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Carly did not reply to my email.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">The next morning, I figured I would find some response from Carly, maybe even the document itself in an attachment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There were many emails in my inbox, none from her, so I sent a copy of the email I sent the night before, ticking off HIGH PRIORITY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As lunchtime came around, there was still no response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>No fed-exed document arrived. And there was no email response until very late in the afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In this email, Carly claimed that late in the evening of the night before she had sent me the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I checked my inbox, I ran inbox searches, I checked my Spam folder, I called CITS to double check my searches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There had been no email the night before from Carly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>At least in this universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">I could see at this point that Carly had most likely left her office the day before leaving behind this particular universe as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Since I lacked the Super-Power of moving between Alternative Universes, I had not received the emailed document in this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And I realized I was downwind from the storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The powers-that-be got involved, since the document was late and they entered an angry exchange of phone conversations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My own power-that-be insisted upon the excellence of my past performances and my reliability with respect to my claim that Carly had not sent the document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On Carly’s end, her power-that-be likewise insisted on the excellence of Carly’s past performances and her honesty about sending the email.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>At this point, my power-that-be reported that Carly was in tears on account of my accusation, but she begrudgingly sent a copy of the file to her power-that-be in order to prove that she did, in fact, have the document on hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Her power-that-be then emailed the document to my power-that-be directly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>And so the situation was resolved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My power-that-be received the document, although it was without any input and editing from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My Super-Powerlessness subjected me to discrimination on this count, and none of the powers-that-be involved seemed willing to acknowledge in any way the Super-Powerist presumption operating in the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family: LucidaGrande">The bad news is that there is very little that any Super-Powerless person can do once immersed in a situation like this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A Super-Powered individual may traverse any number of universes, barely keeping track of the ones in which emails and documents were sent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The ease of this Super-Power is remarkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The "good news" is there's one sure-fire method I have found for coping with existing in only one universe at the workplace, which is utilizing external web-based document services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Google extends through multiple universes, making the Google doc platform useful for the Super-Powered and Powerless alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The Super-Powerless may notice certain hesitancies particular individuals have with respect to requests to use this sort of service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Many times, in my experience, the Super-Powered will claim that they require “more freedom” and claim that they frequently work “beyond the reaches of the internet.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Uploading their drafts will prove to be a “huge hassle.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is understandable that some alternate universes may lack internet wifi signals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Some may lack the internet altogether, yet it is easy enough for the Super-Powered to travel to a hot-spotted universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I say, let the Super-Powered be a little bit hassled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is only fair that the Super-Powerless have a level playing field in the workplace, despite their inability to access the playing field of all universes. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-28097455990247243562010-01-02T17:38:00.001-08:002010-01-02T17:41:17.556-08:00Super-Powerist Presumption: A Guide for the Oppressed Part 2<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">2: Sharing Public Spaces</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The Super-Power, Protective Force Field, is arguably the most ubiquitous of all the Super-Powers and is most frequently taken for granted, thus contributing significantly to Super-Powerist Presumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>People lacking this Super-Power are often at a loss regarding its functions while those possessing it are just as much at a loss in understanding the way their Protective Force Field effects the Super-Powerless around them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It will be helpful to clarify the situation for everyone. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Protective Force Fields are force fields that obviously protect the subject wherever he or she may be located.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The force field prevents intrusions of all kinds from reaching the subject, intrusions including speeding-bullets, shrapnel, nuclear radiation, as well as quotidian intrusions like horrific smells and sound waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A portable protective force field is clearly a wonderful power to have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Protective force fields “protect” the subject while simultaneously permitting the subject’s activities to influence and act upon things outside of the force field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Herein lies the difficulty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If everyone has the power of Protective Force Field, each subject is shielded from the actions and activities of all the other subjects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unfortunately, not everyone possesses this power. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">The Super-Powerless experience indignities when sharing public spaces on account the way the Super-Powered live with the assumption that virtually everyone else has the Protective Force Field power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Cell-phone conversations, conducted loudly and as though the Super-Powerless do not exist, are an example of a very common indignity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>However, it would be incorrect to think that the Super-Powerless are without any means to cope with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Back in the late 90’s, I recall I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I was seated alone at a table, and there was another diner, a guy in maybe his mid-twenties, also seated alone at a table nearby, talking loudly on his cell-phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He was within his Protective Force Field and simply assuming I also had this power, given the content of his conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This conversation began with some complaints he had about the planning involved in his upcoming wedding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Although I could not hear his interlocutor’s responses, I was able to hear about “the drag” the whole thing was “turning into” as well as his insistence that there would have to be strippers at his bachelor party, even if it meant that a certain “pussy-whipped Joel” could not be invited since he’d spill the beans about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The conversation then took a turn regarding a certain “Allison”</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Dude, she’s been calling, like, every day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">…</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">[Laughter] I mean, Allison doesn’t care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s not like she and Cheryl are friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They don’t even know each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Cheryl has no clue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">…</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">Yeah, I see what you’re saying, but believe me, if you were me, you’d definitely hit that one last time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">…</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in">I’m definitely hitting that for the road.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had a legal pad with me, took out a pen, and wrote in large capital letters:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">DON’T HIT THAT</p> <p class="MsoNormal">CHERYL WILL FIGURE IT OUT</p> <p class="MsoNormal">SOMETHING ALWAYS GOES WRONG</p> <p class="MsoNormal">MAYBE YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER </p> <p class="MsoNormal">A LONGER ENGAGEMENT </p> <p class="MsoNormal">TO SORT ALL THIS OUT</p> <p class="MsoNormal">DIVORCE IS A BUMMER </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I held up the legal pad so the guy could see what I’d written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He was pretty shocked and got off the phone pretty quickly, chasing down his waitress to pay his bill before he fled the restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I saw this situation as a real score for us Super-Powerless folks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Although nearly nothing I might have done or said would have effected the guy on the cell-phone, given his Protective Force Field, I realized that the Protective Force Field does not create any visual impairment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Since this time, I carry a small, all-purpose sign that says:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">DO YOU REALIZE I CAN HEAR </p> <p class="MsoNormal">EVERYTHING YOU’RE SAYING?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I MEAN EVERYTHING! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The sign proves reasonably effective as a device for informing the Super-Powered that not all those around them in a public space also possess their powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have received numerous apologies from the Super-Powered, and most times, in the least, a decrease in the volume of the conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Occasionally, I have been told to “F*** Off.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Interestingly, the few Super-Powered people who have responded negatively seem convinced that it is not merely socially acceptable to announce their private information loudly, but that it is a right of theirs to impose it on other people—as if other people should not be able to hear that information, despite the public nature of the space we share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is precisely why the Super-Powerist presumption needs to be challenged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I say, let us educate the Super-Powered, so that they come to recognize they share the world with Super-Powerless people.</p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-63583843576820413932009-08-19T11:28:00.000-07:002009-08-19T11:29:26.582-07:00Frank gets frank...This made my day:<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; white-space: pre; "><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nYlZiWK2Iy8&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nYlZiWK2Iy8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></div>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-86953711421266914722009-08-05T04:35:00.000-07:002010-01-02T17:51:34.775-08:00Super-Powerist Presumption: A Guide for the Oppressed Part 1<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I state for the record that I was born without Super-Powers, nor have any developed in me over the course of my life up to this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unlike the majority of other people gifted with Super-Powers, I am among the ungifted Super-Powerless, a minority tyrannized by the majority who live their lives naturalized and socialized with their Super-Powers, presuming that the Super-Powerless few also possess Super-Powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Super-Powerist presumption is a feature of everyday life, compounding the struggles of the ungifted.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>At my birth, my parents were informed that I was “healthy and normal.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Normal?” my mother asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“This includes telekinesis, right?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Unfortunately, there were no indications of telekinetic ability following delivery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But, there may be developmental delay.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“So, you’re saying that our baby may be developmentally challenged?” my father exclaimed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“There’s no need to panic,” the obstetrician explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“Odds are high that abilities like telekinesis may appear within the first two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But, bear in mind, even children who never develop such abilities can lead productive, satisfying lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Acceptance is crucial.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My parents took this message of acceptance seriously. Although I failed to develop any Super-Powers, they raised me in an environment of loving acceptance, telling me frequently that with strength and determination I could set my sights on any goal and achieve whatever I wanted in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Despite my supportive home environment, the world at large has, in fact, treated me differently—as a person assumed to have Super-Powers and scorned whenever I prove to be a different sort of person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I believe that someday, perhaps in a future time I will never live to see, the Super-Powerless will be treated with respect and seen as full-fledged human beings who so happen to exist without Super-Powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Until this time, I hope to provide a personal and practical guide for the Super-Powerless that will enable them to cope with Super-Powerism in our society.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;">1: Driving<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;">A person without Super-Powers is at a distinct disadvantage when driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Whenever I am driving, there will invariably come a moment when there is a car in front of my car driving slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In response, I will slow down, patiently creeping behind the slower driver (usually elderly people who may lack confidence in their driving skills or younger drivers whose attention has been drawn into cell phone conversations).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In any case, because I lack the ability to either a) telekinetically transport my car over the slower car or b) dematerialize and drive through the slower car, rematerializing in front of it, I am forced to crawl along at a reduced speed. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;">However, the car behind me will invariably tailgate, presuming that I have Super-Powers of either a) or b) types.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The tailgating, sometimes accompanied by headlight flashing, honking and verbal abuse, will persist, sometimes despite my best efforts to indicate that there is a slower driver ahead of me by shifting slightly to the right in the lane so that the Super-Powered driver behind can get a view of the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This rarely works, given the persistence of Super-Power presumption.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Courier;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In cases like these, I advise the Super-Powerless “normal” person (yes—let’s take back that term), to pull over quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>More than this, you must offer a friendly wave of acknowledgment, so that the driver behind you knows that you have pulled over on his or her behalf such that they may exercise their Super-Powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is critical, in my opinion, that we, the Super-Powerless, distinguish and distance ourselves as citizens who are not those among the Super-Powered that deliberately attempt to hold up others in the exercise of their Super-Powers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I say, let the Super-Powered battle it out among themselves, while we, the Super-Powerless, distinguish ourselves as a minority that understands who we are with pride and work cooperatively alongside the Super-Powered without pretending to be other than who we are.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-22524078537541562702009-08-05T04:20:00.000-07:002009-08-05T04:30:17.843-07:00Trade Imminent Fear for Present One!<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Scared of complicated flow charts depicting the bureaucratic nightmare that will ensue if the U.S. government goes forward with Health Care Reform?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> Why fear <i>impending</i> bureaucratic nightmares, when you can fear them right now?</o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>Scary complicated flow chart of what we have <a href="">now</a> (if you happen to have health insurance <b>at all</b>):</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Have a nice day!</p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-7226128845636827162009-07-30T03:22:00.000-07:002009-07-30T03:26:10.200-07:00Gangsta’ Moves for the Otherwise Cowardly: Vol. 1, Issue 2<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Wrong Number Threat</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Dial phone number late at night (past midnight is best).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When you hear unfamiliar voice answer, ask “Who is it?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When person who answered the phone asks, “Who are you trying to reach?” DEMAND, “Who is this!?!?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When person who answered the phone asks once again, “Who are you trying to reach?” DEMAND again, “Who the fuck is this!?!?!”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">5. When person who answered the phone asks once again, “Who are you trying to reach?” yell at this person “Don’t fuck with me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Who the fuck do you think you are!!??!! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’ll come over there and fuck you up—</p> <p class="MsoNormal">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Hear dial tone, as person has hung up on you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Optional</p> <p class="MsoNormal">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A week and a half later, dial phone number, and hear unfamiliar-though-now-familiar person answer phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Pretend that you didn’t threaten this person and say, “I think I got the wrong number,” then hang up.</p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-26723866824473099682009-07-25T10:04:00.000-07:002009-07-25T10:57:42.321-07:00Why We Cannot Have Nice Things # 6,892,564A Denver power company plans to charge Solar Energy customers fees for <i>not</i> using electricity. Although the company will absorb the fee presently, they want to impose the fee so that in the future solar energy customers will not get a "free ride." <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8635012535665399421&postID=2672386682447309968">Story</a><div><br /></div><div>Now, maybe, after the public hearing on August 5th, this won't happen. I don't really care. The problem I'm having here is people <i>thinking this way</i>. Installing solar panels is not cheap. It takes incentives for consumers to make the move. Of course, "the move" threatens power companies. Of course. So, eroding the incentives is the "answer." </div><div><br /></div><div>Every summer for the past three years, I endure a little drama with my power company. This happens because I am lucky enough to be able to minimize my gas usage to zero starting in the late spring. Like clockwork at this point, I receive a notice from the power company that I will be shut off entirely for non-usage, although I am charged a (small) fee for remaining hooked-up. I call and explain the situation, receive another letter the next month, call again, and so on, until the fall. My attempt to fastidiously conserve energy is too anomalous and gets caught by the computer system, even though it's been happening for three years now. I resent having to pay even the fee, but the charges for disconnecting and then reconnecting make it "better" to pay the fee. I have no real problem making the phone calls to the power company, but each time I do so, I'm reminded once again just how the system is rigged against serious conservation. Each bill I receive comes padded with flyers with "Energy Saving Tips" of various kinds for every season of the year, although, as my experience has shown me, actually implementing such "tips" is the very last thing the power company expects. Really implementing them trips their computer system into finding that one has ceased being a customer at all. </div><div><br /></div>729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-63530898753024104692009-07-21T13:05:00.000-07:002009-07-25T10:53:24.437-07:00Pharmaceutical Company verses Health Insurance Provider (Predator verses Alien)<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Patient X was diagnosed with serious medical condition for which X’s doctor prescribed the most effective, safe medication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The medication, however, is unavailable in generic form and is expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Patient X’s insurance company denied coverage for the medication—not because the medication is “off-use” for the medical condition. In fact, the medication is among the only medications specifically for this condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The insurance company denied coverage because other significantly less expensive medications also can be used to treat the condition, although the side effects of all the less expensive medications are worse in kind and *more dangerous* than any of those associated with the expensive medication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The patient’s insurance company indicates in their letter of denial that a formal appeal would have to be the next step.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Patient X figures that the appeal process is worth the effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The worst thing that can happen is that the appeal is denied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The patient is already paying out of pocket for the superior medication, given the fantastic change in quality of life it has effected, and has completely given up eating out at restaurants to cover the cost, and plans to cancel cable TV and switch to Hulu when the time comes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The patient has never, until now, had a serious medical condition, and is pretty pissed-off that the insurance company had decided that more dangerous medications are better, despite the doctor’s insistence that they are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It would be more fun, the patient finds, to appeal on principle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>After paying five-figures to the insurance company over the years, it would seem they could handle a little extra paperwork coming their way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So much of that money paid to them affords the administrative salaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Why not send them a little work?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The appeal process requires a doctor’s letter regarding the denied prescription.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is easy enough to get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>But Patient X realizes that the Insurance company has not been impressed with all the test results and physician’s recommendation for treatment that were already sent with the initial request for coverage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Exactly what might improve this situation for an appeal?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Patient X decides to call the pharmaceutical company that produces the medication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>X explains the situation, which is quite common, as it turns out, but representatives on the lower end are not sure what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Patient X freely (and sincerely) expresses the fact that their medication is fantastic, and that the insurance company is clearly denying coverage on account of expense and not the best interest of the patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>“What do you have about your medication—what data do you have? Surely, you must have evidence about its effectiveness that my doctor can use to draft the letter of appeal?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This question hits a homerun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>X is passed along to a manager, and then passed along to the medical information team.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A member of the medical information team is more than happy to assist Patient X.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It does not seem that the team gets enlisted in a crusade against an insurance company too often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They are unprepared for the request from a consumer for hard data, but after a bit of discussion clarifying the sort of data that would be helpful for this battle, a case file is created for Patient X, the direct line to the medical team member is provided, and X is told that the doctor can call to receive the available data the pharmaceutical company has.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The medical information team promises to do whatever they can to win the appeal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Patient X believes that it is best, all things considered, to let the Pharmaceutical Company and the Health Insurance company duke it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8635012535665399421.post-70169613868375295202009-07-20T14:50:00.000-07:002009-07-30T03:24:34.582-07:00Gangsta’ Moves for the Otherwise Cowardly: Vol. 1, Issue 1<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">The Turning Lane Cut-Off ...in Five Exceptionally Easy Steps</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>Notice several cars stopped at traffic signal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>Notice that there is an unoccupied turning lane adjacent to the lane with waiting cars.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span>Increase speed, driving to the front of turning lane (speed ensures that no other cars with drivers intending to use the turning lane for a left turn will occupy the spot).</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">4.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>While waiting for the green light, edge out slightly in front of car waiting beside yours in order to assert dominance and, perhaps, give a bit of a warning to the driver beside you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">5.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>When light turns green, immediately gun engine and speed up, cutting ahead of all other drivers who were waiting for the light to change.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1">That will show them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> You also </span>may do this "for the lulz."</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Optional:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1. </span></span> If you happen to catch any responses from the drivers that you’ve cut off, including but not limited to honking, flashing headlights, tailgating and invectives: you may proceed to do any of the following: a) Slow down to a crawl so as to punish them for insubordination, b) speed up so as to reassert your dominance, c) speed up so as to reassert your dominance, flipping them the bird or d) do absolutely nothing, as though you've done absolutely nothing, in order to mess with their heads.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">2.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>Turn up car stereo to maximum volume, if volume is not already maxed-out.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="mso-bidi-;font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">3.<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>Talk and/or text on cell phone throughout steps 1 through 5.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->729http://www.blogger.com/profile/15493274033455950620noreply@blogger.com0