Wednesday, December 29, 2010
meh
if someone isnt trying to marginalize you, then what you say must be meaningless. or at least inaccurate enough to be allowed.
Friday, November 5, 2010
yield
you can pray to a barren field, but without planting and tending, there will be no crop.
yelling at the dirt does nothing, if no stream comes from the river.
empty words, yield no understanding, without proper context.
ostracized. and set out on the river to burn. what once i understood as my meaning is now a thing i can only view as contorted and foolish.
left alone, only to think that another day is never ending.
that i might never understand a purpose that i could have had.
and only to wonder what i have sown, and who reaps the benefits.
your words are only as strong as your actions
my actions have become increasingly meaningless
who has taken possession of the good i have done
yelling at the dirt does nothing, if no stream comes from the river.
empty words, yield no understanding, without proper context.
ostracized. and set out on the river to burn. what once i understood as my meaning is now a thing i can only view as contorted and foolish.
left alone, only to think that another day is never ending.
that i might never understand a purpose that i could have had.
and only to wonder what i have sown, and who reaps the benefits.
your words are only as strong as your actions
my actions have become increasingly meaningless
who has taken possession of the good i have done
Friday, October 22, 2010
no windows, no doors
ive heard before that when god closes a door he opens a window. or something along those lines.
but what if you're in a house with no windows?
i was talking a month or so back, to whoever. about how all the aid to haiti was misguided.
what they need in haiti is free access to clean water. for all the millions spent on nothing (temporary aid), they could have built a water treatment facility in port-au-prince, set up a non-profit to manage it, and provided for a basic need.
they could have opened a public bath, had washing troughs, everything. but the money was squandered by the elite, and the misguided US citizens who dont bother to think where their money is going.
haiti was the first revolutionary democracy in the western hemisphere, its our duty as americans (here used in the greater sense of the americas) to help them to help themselves. give them basic services.
and today i hear there is a cholera outbreak. but all the support is run dry, the moneys been spent, and they still have nothing but shit water to drink. ive never been there, i will most likely never have the privilege. but i feel its obvious.
when you give aid make sure its lasting, a meal to a man is nothing, but the ability to find a meal is everything.
teach a man to fish.
the hoover dam still stands. its not a ditch we dug and filled, it is infrastructure. we built it, and it provides. do unto others.
as an atheist i feel the need to remind christians of what jesus taught.
but what if you're in a house with no windows?
i was talking a month or so back, to whoever. about how all the aid to haiti was misguided.
what they need in haiti is free access to clean water. for all the millions spent on nothing (temporary aid), they could have built a water treatment facility in port-au-prince, set up a non-profit to manage it, and provided for a basic need.
they could have opened a public bath, had washing troughs, everything. but the money was squandered by the elite, and the misguided US citizens who dont bother to think where their money is going.
haiti was the first revolutionary democracy in the western hemisphere, its our duty as americans (here used in the greater sense of the americas) to help them to help themselves. give them basic services.
and today i hear there is a cholera outbreak. but all the support is run dry, the moneys been spent, and they still have nothing but shit water to drink. ive never been there, i will most likely never have the privilege. but i feel its obvious.
when you give aid make sure its lasting, a meal to a man is nothing, but the ability to find a meal is everything.
teach a man to fish.
the hoover dam still stands. its not a ditch we dug and filled, it is infrastructure. we built it, and it provides. do unto others.
as an atheist i feel the need to remind christians of what jesus taught.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
playing football
dont be afraid of strangers.
know when to talk, know when to fight, and know when to run. the only person who will rob you in life is someone who tells you not to stand up for yourself.
be wary.
someone prone to violence against others will most likely cause themselves enough trouble before they get to you, but if you have the ill fate of being the target, dont give up, tomorrow will come again.
know your enemy. they will have more to teach you than any friend.
don't forget lessons learned, no matter how painful.
but in that thought leave before they can alter your conscience, and through that your will.
those that seek to understand will always be faced with a choice, upon truly knowing, of whether or not they still believe in their version of justice. if you let yourself be swayed or used, you will become the target of your own hate, no matter how much you wish it otherwise.
know when to talk, know when to fight, and know when to run. the only person who will rob you in life is someone who tells you not to stand up for yourself.
know when to talk, know when to fight, and know when to run. the only person who will rob you in life is someone who tells you not to stand up for yourself.
be wary.
someone prone to violence against others will most likely cause themselves enough trouble before they get to you, but if you have the ill fate of being the target, dont give up, tomorrow will come again.
know your enemy. they will have more to teach you than any friend.
don't forget lessons learned, no matter how painful.
but in that thought leave before they can alter your conscience, and through that your will.
those that seek to understand will always be faced with a choice, upon truly knowing, of whether or not they still believe in their version of justice. if you let yourself be swayed or used, you will become the target of your own hate, no matter how much you wish it otherwise.
know when to talk, know when to fight, and know when to run. the only person who will rob you in life is someone who tells you not to stand up for yourself.
Monday, October 11, 2010
basic math
To anyone voting in oregon:
When a person who (even as an offhand remark) floats the idea of lowering the minimum wage.
here is some basic math:
If the wage is 8.50 (as it will be if nothing changes).
full time 40 hours (a minimum wage worker will never be allowed to stay on the clock long enough to be awarded overtime, if it happens, it is a very rare occurrence, and definitely not in a corporate setting, all end earnings should be seen as maximums.)
340 a week, 1360 a month, 16320 a year.
take out 1/5th for taxes, or not at all, since you are too poor to pay any anyway... -3264 whatever.
13056.
what is your rent? without roomates you will be paying 600 dollars a month at the least with averaged utilities (low estimate). 7200 a year.
leaving 5856.
the only point of the minimum wage is to avoid slavery. 497 dollars a month.
can you start a business? can you invest?
what can 500 dollars buy you? besides what you need to live?
if you lowered it by one dollar where would we be by the same math?
7.50, 300, 1200, 13200
10540
3340
279 dollars a month.
this does not include: food, communications, clothing, transportation, entertainment, education, health care, children, etc.
5856 is what a full time employee makes in a year on minimum wage in oregon if they manage their own household, before anything besides housing is payed. lowering this amount is unnecessary and insane.
If you were to believe that lowering the minimum wage would allow more workers to be hired, at what point would you lower it to? 2 for the price of one? or -56 dollars a month for all expenses? buy two get one free? or 133 a month?
Of course at some point you would stop taxing the poor right? or after lowering the minimum wage would you still demand that someone who has no ablity to provide basic services for themself/family should still subsidize a government or private system they have no financial ability to use? if you lower the minimum wage will you automatically make them tax exempt? because if you dont they will most definitely be homeless.
Anyway. I would love for someone to correct me, or explain exactly how lowering the minimum wage wouldn't create a permanent welfare/slave class.
When a person who (even as an offhand remark) floats the idea of lowering the minimum wage.
here is some basic math:
If the wage is 8.50 (as it will be if nothing changes).
full time 40 hours (a minimum wage worker will never be allowed to stay on the clock long enough to be awarded overtime, if it happens, it is a very rare occurrence, and definitely not in a corporate setting, all end earnings should be seen as maximums.)
340 a week, 1360 a month, 16320 a year.
take out 1/5th for taxes, or not at all, since you are too poor to pay any anyway... -3264 whatever.
13056.
what is your rent? without roomates you will be paying 600 dollars a month at the least with averaged utilities (low estimate). 7200 a year.
leaving 5856.
the only point of the minimum wage is to avoid slavery. 497 dollars a month.
can you start a business? can you invest?
what can 500 dollars buy you? besides what you need to live?
if you lowered it by one dollar where would we be by the same math?
7.50, 300, 1200, 13200
10540
3340
279 dollars a month.
this does not include: food, communications, clothing, transportation, entertainment, education, health care, children, etc.
5856 is what a full time employee makes in a year on minimum wage in oregon if they manage their own household, before anything besides housing is payed. lowering this amount is unnecessary and insane.
If you were to believe that lowering the minimum wage would allow more workers to be hired, at what point would you lower it to? 2 for the price of one? or -56 dollars a month for all expenses? buy two get one free? or 133 a month?
Of course at some point you would stop taxing the poor right? or after lowering the minimum wage would you still demand that someone who has no ablity to provide basic services for themself/family should still subsidize a government or private system they have no financial ability to use? if you lower the minimum wage will you automatically make them tax exempt? because if you dont they will most definitely be homeless.
Anyway. I would love for someone to correct me, or explain exactly how lowering the minimum wage wouldn't create a permanent welfare/slave class.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
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