Do disaster movies offer any way to prepare for a real disaster?

 
Photo by Avlxyz



Ordinary people need to pay attention to the disaster movies if they plan to survive real disasters. 

Few people react the way that actors do in the disaster movies. With so many luxuries, government infrastructures and advanced technological resources available, it will be easy for an ordinary person to fall apart in the event of a catastrophic  disaster or societal breakdown.

No one falls apart like a disaster movie hysteric who smashes the island's only radio, kills the survivors one-by-one or tosses the  only remaining granola bars into the sea! 

Losing your last granola bars will wake some people up. You have to be ready for folks to get hysterical and trash the food.

In one real world example, car navigation systems led some people to take abandoned forest service roads as shortcuts to better highways. Some survived, but barely, with only bits of food, little water and no communication capability. 

In a disaster movie, there would be psychotic mountain families, the hills would have eyes and Bigfoot would show up in there somehow. 

Now that's a survival scenario to make people wake up and think about some things!

The common wisdom  is to prepare for a period self sufficiency and to let the authorities take charge in the event of a disaster or crisis.  

This means keeping multiple disaster kits as advised by FEMA.
But here are many more survival skills that the common citizen needs to think about in the event of a truly devastating or long lasting crisis.

Will the men leave the toilet seat up? Do the women get to keep their press on nails in a disaster? What about big hair and mouthwash? Do people really start snogging after three days with no toothbrush? Someone has to set the rules and make sure that survivors stick to them!  

Have a plan for securing the home and neighborhood.
In a disaster, there are many neighborhood and workplace hazards such as rioters and looters, neighbors and co-workers with mental breakdowns and potentially dangerous pets that can go loose.

That's right. Fluffy, the loving, gentle pit bull is now a bulky little monster with teeth and powerful jaws. Your cat thinks you look tasty. Your neighbor thinks you are a government clone. And Joe the Plumber has an awful lot of guns and ammo.

Work, neighborhood, travel and household plans offer solutions for the unanticipated behavior of people and animals in crisis. 

The main point is to be prepared for well known people and pets to go through drastic changes in their behavior.

In a disaster movie, we think nothing of Stephen King-like people who hoard, turn into dictators and run with a pack of goons. In real life, we must account for potheads, drug dealers and organized buffoons. Without law and order, who is going to battle with those giant spiders or the dinocroc?

Be prepared for limited or no communication or power where

Anything goes. Cell phone towers or centralized communication facilities can be damaged. The family is spread out over miles. The children are in the hands of dicey school authorities if they are in school and not hanging out down by the slough, drinking Skyy Vodka and making out.

Stay in touch throughout the day so that the last known location and activity will be available. Think of a plan that might bring everyone together in one place without cell phones or smart phones.

In a disaster movie, fully 99 percent of an adult's time is spent trying to find the spouse and children, who invariably end up clinging to edge of a toppling, flooded building ready to drown while they tumble for hundreds of feet as they go up in a giant fireball of escaping volcanic gas. This sorry situation is always preceded by an argument between a spoiled, headstrong family member who has to go their own way.

Know first aid and CPR. The local Red Cross chapter has great classes for beginners or for refreshing older first aid and CPR skills. It is worth it to take a class or two.

In a disaster movie, there are always nubile, competent young doctors who manage to keep their fingernails clean despite having just emerged from an underground sewer. How did they come to be in the underground sewer? They were escaping the venomous, giant spiders who exploded all over them, covering them from head to toe in nasty goo that somehow seemed to disappear in the next scene.

Know how to start a fire and have the tools for safe, outdoor fire starting and maintenance. With no power or gas, having the skills or tools to make a wood fire is a basis for human survival, for cooking food and purifying water.

Yeah, right. Everyone hated smokers so much that all the smokers bought e-cigarettes. No one even has a car lighter any more, let alone a BIC to flick. If the contestants for "Survivor: Hukunuku Island don't bother to  learn how to make a fire before they show up, then what makes us think we know what we are doing?

 It's not like these bad boys are going to be lying around...



In a disaster movie, a crackling fire magically appears in two or three frames and a giant rabbit is sizzling and roasting over a spit. In real life, a full grown wild rabbit would bite the heck out of us. 

As for weapons, those pointed sticks, clicking ammo clips and high tech guns take training and experience. Let's face it, the only thing people know how to click is the TV remote and computer mouse.

These adorable Tardigrades live among us! Can you do battle with them or eat them?

 
 


In the disaster movies, even goofy Barbie turns into an instant commando, clicking ammo clips and shooting with precision like a Marine. And everyone knows how to climb up a thirty foot structure to escape raving zombies. Yeah. Right. This is because there are no old people in disaster movies, unless they get sucked into the burning vortex at the beginning.

There is a lot to learn before we start having any more disasters. Real world survival is getting more and more like the scenarios we see in disaster movies (minus  the aliens and giant snow spiders). But one thing is always going to be true: common sense will be in short supply, so be ready for serious foolishness and uncommon bad sense! 

 



 

Internet reading is different reading: Part One

  
Photo by Xenonlit

Internet reading is different reading. A book reader picks up a physical object, reads the contents and put the book away when finished. Books pile up and gather dust until the asthma attacks force the reader to straighten up that mess.

Internet reading has led to a tidal wave of content that cannot be stopped. Click bait headlining has dragged us all into a thesaurus powered chaos of word anarchy. 

Internet readers do not click on words like "tidal wave of content". They click on words that have power, like:

A vortex of ultimate content
A Tardis of content
A Vampire/zombie hybrid invasion of undead content 

The only physical objects a book reader requires are light and a book. Every computer working zone requires tiny toys, writing instruments and paper (!), snack food drippings, and outrageous coffee cups.

           

Traditional readers get information in discrete and well focused packets. They interpret the static symbol and tiny image, injecting additional content from their own minds. Internet readers get Harry Potter newspapers. They get awful videos, cat antics, mind numbing graphics and grinding sound that overwhelms the senses. 


The only thing missing is "Smell-o-vision".

Internet readers have well developed attention deficits and Google brains. With ADD and Google Brain, it is easy to change focus with the click of a mouse. Internet readers are wildly digressive when investigating a subject because their research never leads them to a single topic of headline. 

Comment threads begin with a battle over the writer's thought processes, right to live, and moral fiber. They end with a rousing discussion about the merits and drawbacks of kale consumption. 



Wikipedia brain allows us to start with Henry VIII and end with some joker named Aldfrith. (He was a Northumbrian gang banger.) And where do Quantum Dots fit into all of this? Who cares? It's all good. No one has to leave their seat to grab a new book off a shelf!

Books and shelves...that sounds so funny.

Ooooh shiny! The new Bentley Betayga! Skimpy dresses we'll never fit into. Wait. Is that a cake or an aircraft carrier? 

Rejoice, internet reader. You have the universe before your eyes. You need not worry about staining a page, breaking a spine, or someone stealing a book from your ridiculous shelf hoards!

You need not worry about anything at all, because you can invoke the gift of attention deficit and click your troubles away! 

 

China is re-gifting America's coal by sending it right back to us

 

Photo by Xenonlit Skies over California

China is re-gifting America's coal by sending it right back to us 

That is right. We push a lot of American coal to China through Vancouver, Canada. China burns insane levels of coal and pollutes itself to catastrophic levels. The air currents bring the carbon and other nasty after products back a cross the Pacific Ocean. 

The high-carbon pollution comes right back to the western U.S.

Californians are hacking and coughing plenty as pollution violations happen in western cities. Researchers find that many of those violations originate in Asia. 

With such gifts as mercury, ozone, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, black carbon and dust from China's growing desertification problems, the western U.S. is losing the gains we have made in reducing carbon and other emissions.



Read more here,

Photo By Xenonlit. Not a Boeing 787, that is for sure.

Boeing stops 787 deliveries after global aircraft grounding

  

Here is the problem. Incidents involving the highly advanced aircraft's two lithium-ion batteries caused a panic. One battery set off a smoke alarm in the cockpit. A battery ignited in a parked 787 at Boston's Logan Airport. 

Transportation secretary Ray LaHood, announced on Friday that a that 787s would not be allowed to fly until the authorities were “1,000 percent sure” they were safe. He said,

“Those planes aren’t flying now until we have a chance to examine the batteries. That seems to be where the problem is.” 

The government has not grounded an entire aircraft fleet since 1979, when a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 crashed. 

Consumers can expect a lengthy process since "highly advanced" usually means "unprecedented problems". The airworthiness directives for such an advanced battery system cannot even establish a baseline for satisfactory conditions because everything is too new to wide use and to the rigors of flying under real, long term conditions.

In other words, no one has an idea what is wrong or how to fix the problem, even if engineers are getting closer to answers.

The New York Times has an in-depth article.

What is "Celebrity Swatting" and how is it getting out of  control?

No one can be accused of admiring the Khardasian clan too much, but they certainly did not deserve to have their home swarmed by cops. Tom Cruise was "swatted" yesterday, when someone placed a 911 call to Beverly Hills cops.

Another incident happened when a 911 caller claimed someone was shot inside the Khardasian house in Hidden Hills, Ca. The caller added that armed people were still inside. 

 Five officers were on site to lock down the entire street. According to TMZ, Bruce Jenner and Khardasians Kris, Kylie and Kendall were ordered out of the house until it could be searched. 

Fortunately, Tom Cruise was not at home when police arrived for his Swatting incident. 

A southern California twelve year old was arrested On December 10, 2012 for earlier swatting incidents involving Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber. Even more swatting incidents were associated with that individual, according to TMZ.

 

 

 Photo by Xenonlit  Chicken breast schnitzels

How to do any kind of Schnitzel: Pork, Beef, Chicken or Fish

The Meat

Use lean pork, large chicken or turkey breasts or slices of a large firm fish
The meat should be evenly sliced or pounded to about 1/2 inch thick

Season the meat with salt and pepper
OR:  Marinate the meat overnight in garlic, onion, seasonings and a dash of any acid like balsamic vinegar or citrus juice.

 

Photo by Xenonlit 

The Breading

Prepare about three feet of work space.
Lay out four plates or shallow pans.
First plate: Put 1-2 large well beaten eggs.
Second plate: Put 1-2 cups of flour that has been seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika.

Third plate: Put 1-2 cups of breadcrumbs, pankow crumbs or crushed Ritz Crackers

Fourth plate: Is as clean plate for the finished schnitzels!

How to do the breading

1: Use tongs or wear plastic gloves 

2. Dip the meat in the egg, making sure to coat it well. 
3. Dredge the meat in the flour to coat it well
4: Go back to the egg and coat the floured meat.

5: Dip the coated, floured meat in the crumbs

6: place the finished schnitzel on the final plate.

Cover the schnitzels in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. This allows the coating to set.

 Photo by Xenonlit

 

 

Frying

Use Canola or vegetable oil that stand up to heat. 

Remember that oil penetration causes greasy fried foods.

Heat about 3/4 inch of oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 177 degrees Celsius.

Let the schnitzels sit for a while. Cold schnitzels will lower the oil temp. 

Add the schnitzels. The oil will rise, so be careful.

Don't overcrowd the pan.

Fry until the schnitzel is a lovely, golden brown. 

Chicken and pork need 3-5 minutes on each side.

Test fry a schnitzel, then check with a meat thermometer. Chicken or pork should be about 180 degrees at the center and juices should be clear.

Enjoy the schnitzels with a dash of lemon, a mushroom sauce or with gravy! 

With salad, creamy mashed potatoes and veggies, you will enjoy a hearty, healthy meal.

Schnitzels are a global, universal food. Try Asian, Mexican, African and other seasonings, sauces and marinades. 

 

Jaeger Schnitzel
Hunter Style Jaeger Schnitzel with Bacon Mushroom Gravy
Pork Schnitzel, or Scallopini
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Fried Steak or Country Steak
Zigeuner or Gypsy Schnitzel



 

 

Cleaning tips for triflent people

 
 All photos by Xenonlit




 We triflent people have to stick together. 

We do not clean by conventional methods. We do not have conventional attitudes toward cleaning. We resent the fact that, once we mop and rinse our floors, we have to do it all over again in two or three months! 

Just joking. We actually clean a lot easier, we do it every day. We know what to use and we know how to use things. We have organization and we have discipline. 

The end result? None of the drama that we hear from everyone else.

We are only triflent in one area: cleaning house the stupid way. Otherwise, we are busy people who have many responsibilities and only so much time in the day. This expert at cleaning triflence has discovered several keys to faking it with a truly clean living space that does not require obsessive labor and complaining.

The first tip is to minimize the number of objects in a room. 

Clutter is the worst enemy of anyone who wants a clean and relatively dust-free home. Think about it. The more things we piled into a room, the more work it will be to keep those things clean, dust free and in order.

If you do not use it, store it or lose it!
If you use it once a day, keep it out of the way!
If you use it once a week, Hide it where you can take a peek.
If you use it once a year, use long term storage, dear.
For kids and toys, designate a space
Get good storage and put toys in their place
For grownups with hobbies, designate a room
Use better storage and free space will bloom!
If you display trinkets, put them behind glass
If you collect books, store the ones you'd read last
Stop buying stuff you don't want or need
When it gets hard to store things, it is time to weed!


Clean these things every day or face a much tougher weekly battle that you will want to avoid!

Clothes:

No one needs their entire clothing collection crammed into a single, standard-sized closet! Use Space Bags to shrink the volume, protect unused clothes and tuck them out of the way! Otherwise, enjoy your sick obsession with all of your clothes but don't let anyone catch you at it.

Good storage solutions are the key to controlling the laundry. Put dirty items in separate bags and bins. Hang clean clothes as soon as you take them off. This will keep clothes from building up into huge and unmanageable piles. It takes no time to keep the laundry sorted and ready for washing or the dry cleaners. Any local housewares store will offer a variety of sorting, hanging and other options.  

Time is money. Never leave stained, moist or damp clothes clothes and towels in a pile. Hang them up or wash and dry them right away. Fold and hang clothes right out of the dryer as soon as the buzzer goes off. The coolest item for a larger house is a basket with a hanging rack at the top. After everything is hung and folded right out of the dryer, it is only a matter of rolling it all into the right room!

If clothes do get wrinkled, toss the item in the dryer with a wet washcloth and tumble for ten minutes. Voila, wrinkles gone!

Kitchen and Bathroom Floors:

Entryway, kitchen and bathroom floors must be mopped and sanitized at least once a week or when especially dirty. The new self-contained mops and disposable pad systems eliminate the need to drag out a wet mop and heavy bucket every time. Get a good self-squeezing mop for the big jobs and major cleaning.

Bathroom Shower, Toilet and Sinks:

 


Wipe heavily used areas down every day rather than letting dirt and globs of toothpaste build up for a giant battle every week! Keep the new disposable disinfectant cleaning wipes at the sink and toilet. Keep used dryer sheets and some spray cleaner for scrubbing the mirror and shower.

 


Wand/disposable toilet cleaners and tank tablets make it easy to clean the toilet at any time. Why battle once a week with the entire toilet when the bowl and seat can be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized in just a few minutes a day.

 

A retractable wand with a scrubber makes it a snap to wipe down the tub and shower after each use. This prevents the buildup that leads to time consuming scrubbing sessions or strong chemicals. These excellent scrubbers have replaceable pads and are excellent for elderly and handicapped people.

Clean Kitchen Sinks and faucets every day:

Kitchen sinks and faucets can actually carry more bacteria than a toilet.  These features must be quickly sanitized and cleaned after every use. Use the quick cleaning wipes and sprays every day to avoid a weekly battle with built up grunge.



Clean Up While Cooking:

There is no excuse for facing a huge pile of mixing bowls, egg beaters and intermediate stuff at the end of a meal! Clean this stuff as you use it!

While one thing is simmering or baking, rinse and wash  items that are no longer needed. At the end there will be a  few pots, pans or casseroles plus the items from the table.



Keep A Collection of Cheaters For Grease Prevention and Detail Cleaning!

Stiff Boar bristle paint brushes, clean toothpicks, and used dryer softener sheets are priceless for getting dirt out of decorative nooks, tiny trims and odd details on kitchen appliances and ceiling fans. 

Fabric softener sheets give a mild, but effective scrub for mirrors, TV screens, windows and decorative glass.

Frying pan splatter shields are a must-have. They come in various sizes and will prevent grease from blasting through the kitchen and house. If you don't have a splatter shield, use a large strainer. Why struggle with major grease buildup when it can be prevented in the first place?

Baking Soda

Baking soda is pure gold. Every month, people come up with new use for baking soda for first aid, cleaning, odor control and more.
 
Baking soda sanitizes, de-greases and kills odors. This is the same stuff you get in those expensive scrubbers that wizzle away so quickly. Just keep a few boxes handy and use 1 cup to a gallon of  warm water to wipe down walls and other large areas. 

Make a paste if you need a good scrub. 

Make a paste and use a stiff brush if you need a stronger scrub. 

Keep boxes in the fridge and freezer. Pour the old boxes down the drain and garbage disposal.

Clorox Bleach

Clorox Bleach is a universal disinfectant, but it can do more.

Here's a trick to prevent clogged drains. Heat some water almost to boiling. Pour one cup of Clorox down each drain: the bathtub, shower and sinks. Let sit for ten minutes then pour two cups of boiling water down each drain! You won't believe how clear your drains will stay.

The fridge

There is no excuse for spoiled food in the fridge. Just before you take the garbage out, go through the fridge and clear outdated food out of there, too. Use a plastic grocery bag and fill it.

There is no way out of once-a-week fridge cleaning with 1 cup of Clorox in a gallon of warm water. Pay attention to the racks, too or you will get sick from spoiled food that you cannot see. 

Summary:

The triflent people are the most resourceful people when it comes to having a clean home without having a cleaning nightmare: take care of it daily and avoid the moaning and groaning that is sure to come when you have to do it all on the weekends!

Who are those street people anyway?

 

Who are those street people anyway? The term "street people" originated during the late 1960s when the hippie revolution started. Suburban White kids flocked to the new promised land around Haight Street in San Francisco. The street was free and fun. You could get anything there. You could find life and love.

The early, rebellious post-adolescents left their sock hops and muscle cars behind to live in personal, intellectual and spiritual freedom. They also discovered chemical and sexual freedom. The survivors discovered personal responsibility and fled the streets. Sadly, many never completed the cycle and they dropped out for the long term.

A second wing of post adolescents were drafted into the armed forces. Most of them were sent to Vietnam. Many came back  bent, broken, twisted and addicted. They brought new cultures, new ideas and new drugs with them. Nothing made sense. No one made sense. Many were reabsorbed, but many joined the street.

A third wing of non rebellious youth took another direction. More young people were able to attend college. Even more were able to get into skilled trades. That group expanded their lives and educations while they gained upward mobility within "the system". They left home, but they took their social orders with them. 



The 1970s was a heady, horrible era. American post adolescents found a vast, open marketplace of young bodies, convincing ideas, exotic cultures... and prey.

Opportunists had fertile new hunting grounds during the late 1960s and early 1970s. They found free sex, drug buyers, gullible minds and a place to conceal their darkest secrets.

The evolving street lifestyle allowed young people to experiment with life. Life presented dangerous experiments: Illicit drugs, forbidden politics, poverty and unwanted pregnancies.  

The internet is like a giant mall... with a bad backside

   

The internet is like a giant mall where everything is clean, pretty and shiny. However, we can get lost. We can find ourselves at the bad backside of the mall. There is no landscaping, food court or flooring. Mugs and surly smokers hang out back there.

Warnings will never deter the bulging population of people who use web-based services. This is because the computer dealers offer too many new devices and features that make it much easier to get into big, fat trouble all day and night.  That is correct. Cheap Chinese crap will be our downfall.

Check this out: I discovered that I was already doing the best computer virus prevention! Where else but the internet would I have found this advice from someone who has obviously been there...?

"Avoid Shady Web Sites – If you need to look at porn, then make sure you do it in a virtual environment. You are DEFINITELY going to get some virus or spyware if you browse porn sites on your computer. Virtualization basically allows you to run programs like Internet Explorer in a virtual environment that does not effect your current operating system. If you want to find out more, search for “Virtual PC” or “VM Ware” in Google. Otherwise, simply avoid going to shady web sites!"

 

Finding truth and meaning in life

  The human mind loves to organize sensory input into symbolic form. The ancient human mind fell in lust with symbolism and languages developed. Languages helped humans to develop collective ways of thinking, mainly by communicating very clearly that people would die if they did not agree to one thing or another.

Now the web allows endless data packets of crap to travel back and forth between humans.

We do not know how our ancient ancestors did before there were highly developed languages. Without highly developed languages, how did humans ponder the meaning of truth or life? When did humans add pondering to dodging dinosaurs and making whoopee?

 

Pondering nature is fairly easy. We get sensory inputs. We create symbolic terms for things like freezing to death, agonizing pain, the trots, eclipses, sex and tasty foods. 

When there is no satisfying concept, we search for more facts and more inputs, repeating the processes until we either give up or settle on something religious.

Then we start building temples and making up lies about higher beings who think they can compete with God. God is exempt from this process because God was here first and set up the whole shebang. The Mayans were wrong, so pay some respect now!

Truth is the crown jewel of inquiry and symbolic concept. But humans also love to give each other red herrings and false leads. The traveler deviates from the direct path to the truth. In many cases, there is no path to the real truth. Sometimes, new pathways lead to unanticipated truths. 

Making New Years resolutions that do not make us crusty and haggard

 

 Photo by Xenonlit

 A New Years resolution for 2012: Learn how to watermark photos.

Introduction

Every new year comes with a giant anvil that hangs over our  heads. New Years resolutions are evil plots that goad us into doing more, doing better and doing what we are supposed to do. New Years resolutions are actually a hated, repulsive process that we cannot afford to think about during the coldest and most depressing months of the year. 

A fresh new year should be about fresh new starts in life, not guilt trips over our failures or losses in life. One way to prevent psychic turmoil is to start resolutions at different times during the year. Choose a season when you can operate on yourself with passion and joy rather than apprehension and fear.

Otherwise, you will be looking all crusty and haggard by Spring and it will all be because of those stinking resolutions!

Bloated resolutions get us out of control. They cause disappointment and self doubt. Big business created a giant, carping nag that compels us to make grandiose resolutions, set impossible goals and make guilt laden promises. 

Now is the time for a revolt. 

We need to get real, feed the craving, indulge the passion and feel good about silencing the nag!





 Photo by Xenonlit
A resolution to make pancakes from scratch.



Set realistic goals

Forget the weight loss "boot camp" idea! This only leads to injury, pain and suffering. Try the "five minute plan", where you think about weight loss for five minutes. This  might lead to doing something physical. Do this several times a day and say goodbye to time consuming traditional exercise.

Visualize yourself doing Zumba, climbing the Matterhorn or swimming in an azure sea. More advanced visualizers can go to Broadway and star in the "Zumba!" musical. Swimmers can evade a pack of rabid, prehistoric sharks. Social animals can visualize running a hotel on the slopes of the Matterhorn while hiding out from a pack of evil spies.

You will feel energized and less bored in no time! You might even get into a pool.

The same goes for learning a language. Start small, stay small and progress will come.Watch foreign films and "Sabado Gigante" with the subtitles covered up. Whenever a person mutters a word you halfway understand, look it up. You will have a twenty-word vocabulary in no time!

Get some passion for that goal

If someone else sets the goal for you, it is probably an admirable and lofty goal. But a person needs passion for the work. No one can sustain the torture of doing worthy things unless they love  the result more than they hate the work.

If you have the passion to become an artist, go ahead and be an artist! Have you seen the catastrophes that hang in modern art museums and thousands of mediocre art galleries these days? Good grief! 

Creating good art is a lot harder than that, but who said that you need to be good? Just do something and talk about it! Think up some symbolic meanings, hidden messages and complicated motivations. Come up with a lot of representational stuff that only you understand. Fake it with gusto and your crappy art will be fine.

Review past accomplishments and dust them off for the new year

People set a foundation for the rest of their lives when they make youthful accomplishments.

Let others know that you once had a life. This does not mean that you get to be a sixty year old cheerleader or break a neck playing pickup basketball. Do not try to squeeze into the old Army uniform or sexy retro outfit, either. 

Forget it. Stop that! 

Write a blog about those things! A grand total of five people show up to read your writing. One of them will comment and ramble on about his or her own comparable experience. You will have had a conversation with someone other than your uninterested loved ones and yourself!

 

 Photo by Xenonlit

2012 resolution: Create and publish a book. Actually published two books

Try some micro resolutions

We get so focused on the big, dumb milestones that we miss the small, smart improvements! Why bother with the big when we can revel in the small! Call it making micro New Years resolutions.

Cut back on fat and sugar because that is beneficial whether we lose weight or not. 

Weight loss exists even when no one else notices it! 

Walk more, putter around more and move more. 

Cutting smoking in half is cutting smoking in half, no matter what anyone says about quitting entirely. 

Compared to doing nothing, the micro accomplishments tell our demanding, guilt riddled, perpetually dissatisfied minds to STFU.

Know the difference between taking a break and quitting

It is fine to take a break from long term or permanent self improvement programs! Quitting is different. Quitting is actually a mental process and here is how it happens, according to No One In Particular.*

Fat, chain-smoking, alcoholic elves live in our brains. They move our thoughts from one place to another, but they cannot leave a thought alone. They add in other people's thoughts. They bring in stupid thoughts like this,

"If we stop working on a resolution, then we must quit for good."

Whack those elves! Whack them good! Take back ownership of your own thoughts. Ask whether you neglect other important parts of your life because you are too busy working on resolutions. 

Look in the mirror. Is crusty haggardness starting to show? Take some time off when you need to tend to other things. Keep life in balance.

However, law enforcement or other official agencies might step in to prevent you from enjoying your really bad habits. You cannot go back to being a bank robber, "dine-and-dash" glutton, extreme golden rule violator, kleptomaniac, general maniac, unemployed pothead, hoarder, Evil Barbie, bath salts sniffer, murderous gold digger, violent abuser or drunken lout.

Try establishing resolutions and goals that are appropriate for each season

Winter is the best time to work on indoor goals, such as sex, art, studying, writing, indoor exercise, healthier cooking and education. 

Spring is good for more active goals like gardening, frisky sex, house cleaning and home improvement. 

Summer is good for buck wild sex, exploration, exercising, losing weight with fresh fruits and vegetables, and getting a relaxing vacation. 

Fall is a good time to learn, eat healthy, get regular sex, travel and prepare for the Winter.

Summary

Be like "Big Pussy" from "The Sopranos". Whack those funky brain-elves before you make any new years resolutions. Get passionate about your goals and build on past accomplishments. 

Celebrate the small milestones. Remember that resolutions allow for breaks and vacations. Try resolutions that are appropriate for each season of the coming year. The results are amazing. Just amazing.

People who have not seen you for a while will say, "You haven't changed a bit!" You have not gotten all crusty and haggard looking from doing New Years resolutions! 

 

  Photo by Xenonlit

Relatively crust free in 2013!

* No one in particular: http://nooneinparticular.co.uk/

Imperial America Part II: Where is American democracy now?

 

The idea of government existing to carry out the will of the people has been perverted by a minority who claimed unprecedented benefits for themselves at the unprecedented expense of everyone else.

If the test of a true democracy is whether any charismatic candidate can come out of the woodwork and stand a chance for election to public office, then America is about as democratic as a country can be. The democracy-eating antics of the post 911 caused the United States to toss the core democratic principles. 

Now we have an imperial government.

America is under imperial rule by a majority of White men who hold contempt for the will of the people and who have no respect for the democratic process that put them into power.

Start with virtual dictatorial powers that were once assigned to the Bush administration,  add in extreme ideological polarization and  hidden political agendas in court decisions. Bring in the shadowy and unelected forces that have dictated law and policy for decades.  

Top it all off with a corrupted and thoughtless legislative process that came from the Republican Party pandering to a handful of extremists who represent a tiny minority of Americans.  

Those extremists came into power because of free advertising from CNN, FOX news and talk radio. The media aided and abetted the takeover of our government.

The Supreme Court went beyond adjudicating the law by making the law when it stole the 2000 election and handed it to King Bush II. 

King Bush II set into motion the events that led to an imperial government, a government that is accountable to no one but shadowy overlords, like the Koch Brothers and the NRA, who meet in secret.

The media, King Bush II, the House, the Senate and the gullible, fear-driven people created an imperial democracy.