Johnny’s NB Capsule

Okay, I don’t really know what this is. It’s one part personal history, one part satire, one part alternate reality. More than anything, it’s just an experiment. If at any point you find yourself becoming offended, please return to the 2 sentences before this one. And here…we…go.
Johnny is an average 13 year-old boy. He likes music and spending time with his friends. Most importantly, Johnny’s Nancy Boy (NB) capsule is still completely in tact. But recently, Johnny’s body has been undergoing some changes. Johnny’s hormones cause him to feel out of control some days. He has recently started falling behind in school, not because he is incapable of doing well, but because he doesn’t see the point of it all. The more adults in Johnny’s life try to encourage him to try harder, the more he seems to pull away. Johnny feels alienated by adults in his life and finds comfort within the less judgmental ranks of his social group at school. Although Johnny’s peers seem quick to judge others, they are somewhat accepting of Johnny. In spite feelings of isolation and a nagging feeling that he doesn’t belong, Johnny feels most at home when in the company of some members of this social group.
One day after school, a friend of Johnny’s offers to share a marijuana cigarette. Although Johnny has been warned about the dangers of marijuana, he values the opinion of this friend more than that of adults in his life.Johnny smokes the marijuana cigarette with his friend and, for the first time in years, feels a connection, a belonging. Johnny feels instantly better about himself and his place within his social group at school.
The next day, Johnny’s father approaches him. He knows Johnny has smoked marijuana. As a result of his actions, Johnny will no longer be permitted to visit with friends after school. Johnny feels even more isolated and alienated. During school, Johnny attempts to supplement lost time with friends after school by skipping class to spend time with other members of his social group. Although these individuals seemed slow to accept Johnny before, they now seem eager to welcome him in. Johnny begins smoking marijuana every day.
After a few days, Johnny’s father approaches him again. This time, he is not calm. He knows Johnny has been skipping school. Johnny’s father yells and punches him in the face, cracking Johnny’s NB capsule. Tiny amounts of NB liquid drips from Johnny’s NB capsule onto his brain, causing him to engage in effeminate behaviors. Now a week-willed teenager, Johnny is quick to comply with his father’s expectations. But the abundance of testosterone in Johnny’s brain prevents such a small dose of NB liquid from causing any long-term effects.
Soon Johnny begins showing interest in females who belong to his social group. with this attraction comes the impulse to pull away from adults who encourage him not to engage in any sexual behavior. again the social group begins to feel more like home and Johnny soon looses his virginity to a female classmate.
Johnny’s father approaches him again. He knows Johnny has had sex. Johnny’s father yells and punches Johnny several times in the face. This trauma causes Johnny’s NB capsule to rupture. Johnny becomes incurably homosexual.

Orange Tick-tocks Rat the Brain

I’m breathing in the taste of something truly sweet
This raise in my rib-cage, it knocks me on my feet
Ready to exhale over all humanity
It’s not something I created; It just flows through me
I’m breaking prisons made from hundred dollar bills
That perfect vision of the love that surely kills
A fleeting whisper of the concept known as “me”
Whole hearts and bleeding wounds are ours in unity
And inside this old bone machine held together by meat
I can taste these lives are laced in something truly sweet

There’s no need to hold onto this fear
Come take, take, take, put it away now
Take, take, take, put it away
Love is not a brand to which we must adhere
Come take, take, take, put it away now
Take, take, take, put it away

Do we really want to earn eternal life from one who threatens us with eternal death?
It’s manipulation
It’s behavior modification
God is bigger than any one idea of him, her, or it
God is love
And love lives in all of us
No one has a monopoly on love
It is this believe that causes us to fear and kill each other
It’s time to wake up
It’s time to put away this competition as a result of fear
It’s time we recognize that we are one and start taking care of ourselves

A peace that passes understanding wants for nothing more
Orange tick-tocks, those ticking clocks are fabricated lore
Beginnings and endings are illusions of this skin
This mirage, a sabotage, a pathway to our pen
A maze created by rats, a cage forged from greed
Which hides this perfect splendor of a world absent of need
This connection opposition biting at our heel
Subtraction of distraction opens minds to find what’s real
An everlasting light which connects every living thing
Stronger, bigger, brighter than any president or king

There’s no need to hide behind this wall
Come take, take, take, put it away now
Take, take, take, put it away

Love and life lives within us all

Orange tick-tocks rat the brain

This <- That Moment

It has been theorized that time is not as we perceive it, linear and fluid. Some say every moment that ever was and ever will be continuously exists, that time’s movement is an illusion. Einstein theorized that time’s passing is relative to the observer’s speed. For more on this, research “gravitational time dilation”. As beings of a world run by laws, ideas like this one may be troubling. What is time if not a constant? I like to think the answer is simpler and simultaneously more complex than either of the presented possibilities. Time is, like any other human experience, completely relative to the observer’s experience. It is not a constant stream, nor is it standing still. Time only exists as we move from experience to experience. From a Universal perspective, of course every moment exists simultaneously. We cannot define time by laws of time. Therefore, outside of time, every moment exists at once. As beings ruled by time, all we have is this moment. I cannot control my past. Nor can I control my future. I can only control what I do this moment. At the same time, because I know my present moment will affect my future moments, I can choose, in this moment, to do what I can to make those future moments enjoyable. We must not worry about what is. But rather work to create what could be. If we dwell on the undesirable, we tend to see the world as an undesirable place. If we focus on the possibilities of our future, we tend to see the world for its great potential. We cannot change what is. What is is already gone. We can only change how we perceive what is and change what will be. If all we have is this moment, there is no need to dwell on what was. We must choose how we want to experience this moment and how we want to affect the next.

“Derek says it’s always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can’t top it, steal from them and go out strong.” – American History X “The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.” – Alice Morse Earle

They Took Our Jobs!!!

I feel like this is too obvious. I must be over simplifying things. Either way, post of the week:

It has been said that immigrants take jobs of citizens of the United States. There are far more aspects of this debate than I am willing to tackle in this article. But what follows is a brief overview of the issue as I see it. If you’d like a simplified version, please scroll down to the end.

Let’s say the average United States citizen spends $51,100 each year. It’s an older stat, but it will work for this analogy. According to Google, there are 318.9 million people living in the United states right now. That’s $16,295,790,000,000 being spent in our country each year. That’s nearly the amount of our national debt: $18,809,528,000,000 and rising. According to Google, the average annual income in the United States is just over $50,000 ($50,500). It has been said that there are a finite number of jobs in our country and that allowing immigrants and refugees to enter our country will cause United States citizens to go without. Theoretically, this means that each non-United States citizens working in the US takes $51,100 per year out of the hands of United States citizens. But where does this money go? Sometimes it goes back into our economy, creating or sustaining jobs. Sometimes it is sent to family in other countries. That money does not work to feed our economy and create or sustain jobs. So each immigrant or refugee who sends his/her entire paycheck to another country costs the U.S about $51,100 a year, or about 1 job. Of course, if the money earned is being spent in the United states, it feeds our capitalist system. According to the article found here (http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_lpr_pe_2013_0.pdf), there were an estimated 13.1 million Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders) in the United States as of January 2013. Assuming these LPRs earn the same $51,100 the average United Sates citizen does, that is $669,410,000,000 potentially leaving our country.

So let’s look at that total population again. 318,900,000,000 times $50,500 is $16,104,450,000,000. so the amount we are spending in our country, $16,295,790,000,000, minus the amount we earn, $16,104,450,000,000 is $191,340. That’s a little under 4 individual’s annual paychecks unaccounted for. Even if we assume there is no one in the United sates living beyond his/her means and all of this money is going to families of LPRs in other countries.

This compares to the millions of jobs lost to outsourcing. According to the article found here (http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/12/11/outsourcing-to-china-cost-us-32-million-jobs-since-2001), outsourcing to China has cost the United States about 3.2 million jobs since 2001. The real problem with our job market is not our South American, Mexican, or Syrian brothers and sisters. The problem is corporate greed. The problem is that CEOs choose to move employment opportunities to other countries, because it costs less than paying workers in the United States.

Simplified Version: Let’s say it costs 1 bing to live for year in the United States (Yes “bing” is a made up currency). Every job in the United States pays 1 bing per year. Every person in the United States with a job has enough bing to live. So how do citizens of the United States get jobs? The existence of each job requires that each person spend 1 bing per year. Because living costs 1 bing, living citizens must each spend 1 bing. Because each citizen spends 1 bing, there is a job for each citizen.

Now let’s try it with a population. Let’s say there are 5 citizens of the United States. Each citizen works one job to earn his/her living wage. This comes to a total of 5 jobs. These 5 jobs are created by these United States citizens spending 1 bing per year each. It costs 1 bing per year per citizen to live. So every United States citizen has a job and earns enough to live.

How about with 100 citizens? 100×1=100. 100=100=100. So every United States citizen has a job and earns enough to live.

I understand there is more to it than this. But, logically, population doesn’t take jobs. Jobs are not finite.

Super Simplified Version: Population creates need. Need creates jobs.

Fear is the reason we have reason to fear

Fear: “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.”

Love: “an intense feeling of deep affection.”

Feelings of fear and love would seem rather contrary to each other. All the while attempting to avoid speaking in absolutes, we can conclude that, generally, it is unlikely for one to experience both fear of and love for the same person. That is not to say that fear of and love for the same person may exist at different times. It is common for many in abusive relationships to feel love for their abusers in spite the abuse. Even in such a case, the feelings defined above would not seem to simultaneously exist. When it comes to relationships, loving someone does not mean we actively feel the intense affection described above. It means we maintain that vulnerability that comes with being open to feeling that intense affection, that connection. To love someone does not mean we are incapable of fearing them. But to actively fear someone, we must cut off that willingness to be vulnerable, that willingness to love them.

It may be wise to fear certain things and even people when these things or people present a threat. The difference in unjustified fear and wisdom comes down to a difference in understanding of our world. There are those who say we need to keep those who are different out of our country. If those who are different are truly dangerous, then this fear is the product of wisdom. If they are not, then this fear is unjustified. We naturally tend to fear that which we don’t understand. If we aim to avoid pain in a world which would often seem to thrust pain upon us, an understanding of our world and it’s inhabitants is beneficial. The more we know, the more we can prepare for and even avoid potential pain.

In an effort to better understand our world, we tend to place things and people into categories. We say, “Those big cats could eat me.” and eventually, “I should stay away from all big cats”. Likewise, we say, “Those Muslims killed people.” and eventually, “I should stay away from all Muslims”. In the sensationalized world in which we live, cultural inputs would seem to gravitate toward the extreme. It would seem much more likely for media outlets to feature stories about the exception of Muslim people killing innocents than stories about the majority of Muslim people living and loving like nearly every other person on our planet. As a result, many of us only have negative experiences of Muslim individuals.

We may fear a person’s actions. But this cannot stop us from loving an entire group of people. Fear pits us against each other. Fear is the reason we have reason to fear. We have to wake up. We have to be the change we want to see in this world.