Year: 2006
Jesus the Asshole
Posted on June 22, 2006 in Myths & Mysticism
Suppose Jesus was an asshole, a god like that worshipped in the American state religion?
How to Spot and Handle a Sociopath
Posted on June 21, 2006 in Scoundrels
This is for my true friends out there. I always appreciate sincerity and trust. It’s been circulating among DBSA chapters across the nation and is well worth your time to read. Doubtless you have met someone like this. The name of the game is STONEWALL.
Protect yourself. This information comes from The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout
Trust your instincts. In a contest between your instincts and what is implied in someone else’s role — as a doctor, animal lover, parent — go with your instincts. Your unfiltered impressions may help you if you let them. Your best self understands that impressive and moral-sounding labels do not bestow conscience on anyone who didn’t have it to begin with.
Practice the rule of three. One lie, one broken promise or one neglected responsibility may be a misunderstanding. Two may involve a serious mistake. But three lies says you’re dealing with a liar, and deceit is the lynchpin of conscienceless behavior. Cut your losses and get out. Do not give your money, your work, your secrets, or your affection to a three-timer.
Question authority. Especially when people claim that dominating others, violence, war or some other violation of your conscience is the grand solution to some problem. Do this even when everyone around you has stopped questioning authority. At least six out of ten people will blindly obey official-looking authority.
Suspect flattery. Flattery is extreme and appeals to our egos in unrealistic ways. It is the material of counterfeit charm and nearly always involves intent to manipulate. Manipulation through flattery is sometimes innocuous and sometimes sinister. Peek over your massaged ego and take a closer look.
Redefine your concept of respect. Too often, we mistake fear for respect, and the more fearful we are of someone, the more we view him or her as deserving of our respect.
Do not join the game. Intrigue is a sociopath’s tool. Resist the temptation to compete with a seductive sociopath, to outsmart him, psychoanalyze or even banter with him. Instead of reducing yourself to his level, focus on protecting yourself.
Question your tendency to pity. Respect should be reserved for the kind and the morally courageous. If you find yourself pitying someone who consistently hurts you or other people, and who actively campaigns for your sympathy, chances are you are dealing with a sociopath.
Can you see a few sociopaths in the newspapers? Or in your church? Or in other places where trust is important?
I’ve learned zero tolerance works the best.
Beyond Gravity
Posted on June 20, 2006 in Driving
Last night’s lecture and the late sunset made me manic. I’ll go into the details there, but for now, I’ll share this:
On the way back from the lecture (Lynn drove), we found ourselves on the stretch of road between Irvine Lake and the Silverado cutoff. This passes through wild country, grassland cropped by deer and chaparral. It begins as nearly a straight shot from the lake to a heavy steel bridge used by gravel trucks. Local underground artists use it as a poster wall.
After the road enters a short-lengthed arbor of live oaks before breaking out in more grassland and mixed chaparral. (There’s a lovely patch of Matilija poppies just the other side of Santiago Creek.) At a slight rise, I felt as if we were climbing into the cool night. I wanted the car to ignore the downhill slope and keep going up to the stars*.
Perhaps we should have stopped so I could stargaze, pretending to be an astronomer who knew none of the constellations, who invented his own name for each.
AHnold Lies
Posted on June 20, 2006 in California Watch Campaign 2006 Falsehoods
The Associated Press caught the Goobernator lying in a campaign ad?
AHnold Sends Out the Troops
Posted on June 19, 2006 in California Watch Campaign 2006 Immigration
I guess there’s just not enough beat ’em up in the job, so AHnold had to send 1000 Latino National Guardsmen down to the border to prevent the alleged wave of terrorists (“Oh dear, junior won’t be able to get a job at In ‘N Out Burger this summer!”) and Chinese soldiers from streaming over from Mexico.
It must be a letdown for AHnold. There’s no question he could terminate any of them (provided they were unarmed). No man who can mold his body parts into weapons or become liquid when AHnold throws a bus at him threatens the Goobernator. Just a petty “evil” which is not evil at all. What we have is a glove tossed out to provoke a race war. Word is that everyone who voted for AHnold would do it again but no one else will join them. 35 percent is not a winning mandate. I doubt that this corndog issue will save him. He’s a bad governor. Maria should have run herself.
The Greatest Generation — my father’s — fought for the Four Freedoms. What does this generation fight for? AHnold says “Do it for me! Do it for me and George! Do it for me!”
No, I think Americans are getting smart. They’re realizing that not every war a president or a governor wants is just. And while they’re expressing their concern about immigration, what matters more is the economy and civil rights. The state of both sucks.
It’s bad enough to have one war of political convenience raging. But perhaps the bright side is that the American public will see firsthand how stupid it is to use soldiers as policemen and for causes that only swell national pride in the chests of weak certainty about exactly what we’re supposed to be loyal about.
Strong Opinions
Posted on June 18, 2006 in Attitudes
f kindness were more the norm of the day, my opinions wouldn’t seem so strong.
Visions without Hallucinations
Posted on June 18, 2006 in Hope and Joy Rage & Annoyance Stigma
Sorry, anniversaries are tough, but if you are reading this, chances are you are one of the good people.
Not Razor Blades, But Cotton
Posted on June 18, 2006 in Body Language Psychotropics
So does Joel suffer, not in razor blades but mounds of cotton.
Lesbian Filmmaking: Tell Me the Truth
Posted on June 17, 2006 in Film Sexuality
Floating below a flaming wing of rogallo today. Lynn was in a fiery mood because the DVD player heated up and refused to play her latest selection from netflix. I kept going out to our box to find that my selection — Little Voice — had not arrived at all, damning me to a lesbian film piece called Chutney Popcorn.
While I like lesbians as people, I don’t get most lesbian cinema. Perhaps my taste polyps been abraded away by centuries of male domination of the media. Or maybe some of the filmmakers just aren’t any good. I’m not threatened by these films. I’m just bored. And on a hot summer night, it doesn’t make for restful viewing.
I know that there must be good lesbian filmmaking because there are good women directors (some of whom may well be lesbians — I can’t even tell you how many wives Steven Spielberg has had.) Your recommendations?
Clublez may be a lead, but this tends to follow the lead of a male erotica connoisseur, read Lecher.
Spilling the Guts
Posted on June 16, 2006 in Health Humor?
My arm’s been weak so pardon me for not writing more,
Valet in Orange
Posted on June 16, 2006 in The Phone
Excerpt from actual conversation with “Rachel” regarding meeting at Westminister’s Asian Garden Mall:
Joel: OK, parking is in the back. [Turning humorous here.] There’s a monk by the back door. If you want, just lift the lid of his begging bowl and put a dollar or so in it.
Rachel: What are we supposed to do, pay him for parking?
