There's a lot going on in the world today. You'd be best placed to try and get an understanding of what's going on. When you make the mistake of ignoring goings on, things get exacerbated, and you run the risk of it impacting you, and by that stage, you are totally caught off guard. Take that Ukraine/Russia example with MH17. Most of the world ignored what was going on with the Crimea annexation, and then had no idea that there was a completely separate matter going on in the Eastern part of Ukraine, which as now unfortunately entered the consciousness of the entire planet. It works like that for any other conflict or seemingly small politically unstable nations. So next time you're watching the news (and yes I know it's a depressing activity, considering how the news cycle works, and the news enjoying leading on violent and disturbing content first), just pay a bit more attention as to how it may impact you. Have a little bit of empathy for others in the world who aren't as fortunate to have your trivial problems. I've seen this new movement on tumblr which tries to state that trivial problems (or white whine issues) are actually legitimate, and you should be allowed to revel in them. I call bullshit on that, because it's the first step to putting yourself ahead of others and making your problems seem worse than theirs, and that's the situation we are already in. We have to be pragmatic and a bit more altruistic to get through this. No Ayn Rand sympathisers or philosophisers here, thanks.
Can we talk about the Gaza situation objectively? I don't know, because the media is so heavily divded on the issue. What's occurring now is an invasion, clearly, but the media has been hesitant to label Israel's actions as an invasion and refer to it as military action. That's not right. We don't need to unpack the entire Middle Eastern conflict, because that's going to be impossible, because there's a lot of complexities and sensitivities involved. For those who are not playing along at home, the Jewish people have a historical and spiritual connection to the land in Israel, stretching back many thousands of years. Gradually, they spread out and immigrated to other areas, as people tend to do as they thrive. After the nightmare that was World War 2, the survivors of the holocaust were not repatriated back to Europe (I don't know why, since that's where they were all from), and Britain and the US decided to carve up land in the precursor to Palestine and dump these people in a land where there were already other people living stateless and unprotected. Then of course there's the religious tension, and political climate, and things are not going well. Israel keeps expanding into territory that is not theirs. They have a heavily militarised system, bordering on something reflecting ancient Sparta, with mandatory military service, to a very high level of skill. This means military action is mandated and sanctioned by the State. Whereas in Palestine, it's a fringe group of idiots being Hamas and Fattah which are the ones causing the problems and shooting rockets at civilian settlements. So how can the Government or innocent people be responsible for that? Whereas it is the Government of Israel who is responsible for the deaths of civilians in Palestine. That cannot be termed as self defence. What sickens me is that the descendants of those who survived the holocaust don't recognise the disgusting irony in the discrimination, land grabbing, dispossession and murder as the wheel turning again. But because of the historical context, no Western government is willing to speak up and call out this ridiculous massacre for what it is. Will the world wake up to what's going on? Or will you turn right over to the tv page?
I've been trying to get back into guitar, but I've realised that I've lost a fair bit of skill in terms of playing faster and more complicated riffs. Was playing some Megadeth last night, and I had some serious issues with Marty Friedman's second solo on Hangar 18 (despite it being something I used to be able to play), as well as the rhythm section on Holy Wars...the punishment due. Might need to actively start practising.
Wow, there's just so much going on today, it's nuts! Just what is going on there? It's a weird, weird world out there.
Have you heard about the concept that 10,000 hours is all it takes to become truly masterful at something? To be a world champion? I wonder if that's true? Does it need to be focused training or just forced attempts to become good? I've already touched on this as to whether geniuses are made, not born, with my previous post on Judit Polgar. There needs to be more research in this area because it's utterly fascinating. We could change the face of learning and education with the discoveries.
I've always been in wonderment about the Superannuation scheme in Australia. Whoever thought of the idea was a genius, but probably didn't look into the unintended consequences (I suspect). Short sighted public policy dictated that the Australian Government made all employers contribute anywhere the equivalent of 9-15% of an employee's salary to be stashed away with a superannuation fund. After the employee hits the retirement age, they pay 30% tax (a concessional amount) and can collect a lump sum, or get it paid as a pension. That's fair enough, I guess they're protecting the workers. But that's ridiculous. If employers didn't have to pay this amount, they could increase actual salary payments, and people could enjoy better quality of life now. Probably nowhere near the 9-15% that Super is, but even half of that would be fine as a salary increase. Super protects the fiscally stupid and irresponsible. If they burned through their money during their life, they will be ok when they retire. It doesn't promote fiscal responsibility when people are younger. But that's not my biggest gripe. My issue is that these super funds (the organisations that manage the funds on behalf of employees) control such ridiculously massive amounts of cash, that they basically control all major investment in the country. All major pieces of infrastructure and assets are owned by cartels of superfunds, with all the cash to spend. Then when they get into property investment, they are encouraging price gouging and the artificial raising of real property. It's ridiculous, because it pushes prices up. And who profits? The Government of course. Taxes, levies, and the ability to have a willing buyer to any short sighted idea to sell public assets. It has flow on effects for the rest of the economy, because the trickle down impact is that the ordinary people like you and I get screwed over. It's something that needs to change.
Ahh we are pseudo-intellectuals here! 90 Minutes to go, I can do this!
I've been reading that a lot of homegrown terror arrests in the United States are usually carried out with the FBI's direct input. Ergo, the FBI are directly involved in entrapment and setting people up to be arrested for this sort of thing. That's highly illegal and unconstitutional. But the problem is that since there are draconian laws in place due to national security arrangements during this period of heightened fear and stupidity, so the collaborators are all anonymous, and can't be called on to be cross examined by defence lawyers. Isn't it strange that there's a whole issue of self fulfilling prophecies for these security agencies? They're basically planting ideas and schemes in people's heads to commit crimes, then arresting them just before committing the act. Of course they're justifying their own existence, and it's a perpetual cycle of idiocy. Do you know why the Tsarnev Boston Marathon plot succeeded (I mean it in the figurative, obviously it was a horrible, disgusting act)? Because there was no FBI involvement, they committed it of their own will. But I've read so many stories of plots being foiled right at the last minute due to the work of 'dedicated agencies'. Well now I know that's a load of crap. They're setting people up and throwing them away for the rest of their lives. This sort of thing needs to be made public.
Well will you look at this?! It's been a stupidly productive day here. It might not be this great for the rest of the week.
Isn't it weird that in most popular music, the tendency is to rhyme words? This is true regardless of culture or language. What an interesting concept!
Anyway, it's been good. I'm very worn out and I need some rest. Surely this has been one of the biggest point filled posts ever?
Joaquin out.
