The answer to this one came almost right away. It would be the law that allows corporations to exist. In reality, that’s a who network of laws. It would take a ban in every country also. For the sake of discussion however, we’ll pretend it’s a straight forward single change.
Why nix corporations? Because ever since they were created, corporations have allowed the rich to get richer using other people’s money. They use it to buy influence for themselves and favorable loopholes in the law for them and their corporations.
You can spend all day on a search engine looking up the numerous lawsuits against corporations, and how even when they kill or disable countless people, they get a slap on the wrist compared to the total damages suffered. Then the lawyers take most of that payout, which is another issue altogether.
We hear about all the jobs corporations create. How about the higher paying ones in better work environments that they destroy? Corporations gobble up competitors or force them out of business all the time. Starbucks bought out Teavana just to shut them down. Amazon has almost single handedly destroyed small business in nearly every field. It started with book stores but sure didn’t end there. No corporations, no hostile takeovers.
Corporations continually tell us that their primary obligation is to their shareholders, yet balk at any attempt to change that. Profit above people (including customers) and the environment.
Speaking of the environment, it’s that same corporate greed that’s led to one of the worst, yet ignored abuses of the environment AND customers; the abuse of planned obsolescence. The earliest Coca Cola vending machines were made so well that the company making them went out of business because they ran out of places to sell them and nobody needed replacement parts. That became the rationale for planned obsolescence; things had to have some sort of finite lifespan to keep companies going.
We’ve gone from products lasting a decade or more to often lasting a year or less, with precious little drop in price to match their lifespan. I have dish towels inherited from my grandmother that are still in nearly pristine shape despite being as old as me. I’ve also bought “premium” dish towels from Bed Bath and Beyond the last few years that have fallen apart after the first wash. Major appliances used to last decades. Some only last a few years now. G.E. has such a bad rep there that they were the ongoing target of a cable news personality.
Nobody wants to admit that it’s not just inflation making people poor, it’s having to constantly rebuy everything. And yes, if you’re an environmentalist, think about all the extra resources that go into constantly having to replace everything, and the extra pollution that creates.
The bottom line for me though is that doing away with corporations ends their political and legal influence over society and creates greater competition that allows small business to thrive.
This will be a little different than my usual meal showcase. As part of my new year health kick, I’ve been looking for all manner of ways to improve my overall health and diet.
Stevia has been our go to sugar substitute for a couple years now. Overall, it’s a good option. Thus far, it keeps testing as safe in various studies, it’s also used in equal amounts to sugar in recipes, which makes substitution easy. The one area where I’ll disagree with Stevia proponents on is the lack of a diet sweetener aftertaste. I get a slight aftertaste when I eat something made with it, BUT it’s mild and I have a pretty refined palette
What If I Told You… There’s Something Potentially Even Better?
Yes, I HAD to go with the Morpheus meme picture, LOL
Obviously you’d want to know what the heck it is, right? Answer: Xylitol.
What is Xylitol?
Xylitol is what’s classified as a “sugar alcohol” that derived from Birch trees and other plant sources. While it’s not a completely calorie free sweetener, it is lower in calories than sugar (60% less calories). It weighs the same as sugar, has a nearly identical flavor as sugar (it’s the only alternative I’ve tried that has ZERO aftertaste), is used in the same quantities as sugar in recipes, and… wait for it…
XylitolActually REPAIRS bad teeth and weak bones!
Yes, you heard that right, it actually helps remineralize teeth and bones. One dentist on YouTube even went so far as to say it could fully repair cavities on any tooth that the nerve hadn’t died on yet.
Huge claims, right? Naturally I wanted to verify them. Every internet search I did turned up legitimate scientific studies that showed the claims were true. Results might have varied some, but the overall claim held up.
I could post enough links to make this article a mile long. Just web search Xylitol and some variation of repair teeth, dental health or bone health. You’ll be shocked at what you find.
The one thing to keep in mind is that you also have to have an adequate daily intake of potassium, magnesium and calcium for xylitol to help rebuild teeth and bones. As I pointed out in my last post, you have to be VERY careful to not overdo it also. There is a definite fine line and balancing act to healthy mineral intake amounts.
The YouTube channel that first sent me down this rabbit hole is Dr Ellie Phillips’s channel
She’s worth a listen to.
Why Isn’t This Widespread Knowledge?
The cynical and obvious answer is that the dental industry just in the US is a $36.08 Billion Dollar business. Most of it corporate owned anymore. Imagine the income of these businesses drying up overnight. Well, not quite overnight. Dr Phillips says cavities can take up to six months (occasionally a bit longer) to fully repair themselves with the right treatment plan. BUT, no more fillings, no more crowns, no more mouth guards marked up 1000% before selling them to a patient, etc…
The only end that would be left intact would be the dental care products like toothpaste and mouthwash.
OK, So What About the Drawbacks?
Anything that sounds this perfect has to have some drawbacks, right?
Well, there is one drawback. Over-Consumption of Xylitol can cause gas and diarrhea. According to the EU’s government studies, that point is 50 grams per day or a bit more, depending upon individual physiology. For that reason, Xylitol has been banned as a sweetener for soft drinks in the EU, and I’ve yet to see a Xylitol flavored drink here in the US either.
To help put that in perspective, a 16.9 ounce bottle (roughly .48L) of Coke has 55 grams of sugar. Even some of the “better” soda pops are in the mid to high 30s.
So yeah, Xylitol is ideally suited for those who want the taste of real sugar, but still go moderately light on their actual intake. Keep in mind though that a few cookies or a piece of pie or cake aren’t likely to put you over the top in grams of sweetener. Pigging out on junk food could certainly put you over the top in a hurry though.
My Own Personal Experience Thus Far:
We ordered some Xylitol from Amazon and got it about a week ago.
It doesn’t really show there, but our filthy beast of a cat 😁 tried to chew open the bag, so I had to move it from the mylar pouch to the resealable containers. Yes, THIS beast:
At least she didn’t penetrate the bag, but she came close. I felt better with the Xylitol moved to the hard containers.
Anyway, that was 6 pounds (2.72kg) of Xylitol, and should last us a good while. Thus far I’ve used it as a sugar replacement in my Korean Bulgogi sauce recipe with spectacular results. Zero taste difference between it and my regular recipe. Xylitol actually dissolves better into water than sugar does.
As a side note, Wikipedia’s entry on Xylitol noted that Xylitol also won’t caramelize like sugar, which can be good or bad depending upon your baking goals.
Given our new diet, we haven’t had alot of chance to use it yet for cooking. I can add that it doesn’t keep sugar cravings at bay though, since it’s not a sugar.
One thing I *am* working on however is Xylitol “Pulling” to try to improve my teeth.
I have a couple of bad teeth and I’m curious to see if this can save me some potentially expensive dental work. Given the timetable laid out via multiple sources, it’ll be a while before I have anything worthwhile to report. I *think* I’ve seen some very minor improvement thus far, but it’s too early to say for sure. *IF* this works, I’ll certainly let all my readers know. If it’s a sham, you’ll certainly hear also.
I should also mention that there’s a similar product to Xylitol called Erythritol. The EU has severely limited it’s use. While superficially similar to Xylitol, there haven’t been the same reported benefits, AND Erythritol is also apparently used in pesticides and herbicides. Without doing more research, all I can advise is avoid the copycat and stick with Xylitol.
So, is Xylitol right for you? That depends. If you dislike more traditional sugar substitutes, are concerned about your teeth and bones, and can control your sweet tooth to some degree, Xylitol could very well be an ideal option for you.
If calories are the be all and end all for you, or you can’t control your sugar cravings all that much yet, then something like Stevia is probably a better bet for you.
PS: A mainstream option for gum with Xylitol (instead of ordering from expensive specialty companies) is Mentos mints and gums. They use Xylitol as a sweetener.
I haven’t posted much the last week or so. Turns out fighting sugar and caffeine withdrawl both at the same time is a stone cold pain in the arse, LOL.
That’s been my biggest hill to climb thus far with my continuing efforts to rebuild myself. My one vice with food is Coca-Cola. I’d managed even before this whole “Project Rebirth” thing started to make other unhealthy foods into an occasional treat. Coca-Cola had been my go to comfort food since the ugliness that was my teen years though. having bought into the false narrative that diet drinks were even worse than regular sugary ones, I never switched either.
LIES! Stay Away and Stay Healthy
SIDE NOTE: The latest research shows that diet drinks are NEARLY as bad as sugary drinks. They cause the same metabolic & insulin resistance issues as sugar, and there’s ALMOST the same level of cancer risk as sugary drinks also, depending upon which sweetener the drink uses. Stevia and Monkfruit seem to get mostly clean bills of health but try finding drinks made with them.Per a few YouTube videos that provided documented studies to support their claims, BOTH types of drinks can permanently damage the digestive track as well, leading to issues like leaky gut syndrome.
Granted, it’s not like I ever got anywhere near as bad as my paternal uncle who died from drinking four liters of soda pop a day. Let’s face it though, any level of soda pop is unhealthy.
So for the last few weeks, I’ve been battling the loss of the easy short term physical energy and dopamine boost that sugar provides AND the mental energy boost from the caffeine (I’ve never been a coffee drinker). One or the other at once might not be so bad. Both at the same time though… YIKES. The physical energy loss was not half as bad as the mental. I’ve had several ideas for blog posts but no energy to “put them to paper” as it were.
Finding Some Help:
I did quite a bit of research since the beginning of the year, trying to find ways to improve the whole “new me” process. When the fatigue got really bad, I turned to solutions to that situation. As it turned out, YouTube had the answer again. Several “Wow, this actually worked for me” replies gave the video enough credibility for me to try it’s suggestions.
The answer, and this was in a sugar detox video, is two supplements. Ginseng and Magnesium. Red (AKA Korean or Panax) Ginseng helps promote physical energy. Note is has to be that exact species of Ginseng also.
You’ll probably want to get your Ginseng in a more refined state though, unless you really love Asian cuisine. 😉
Magnesium is a vital mineral that helps regulate so much that it’s scary. Primarily bone maintenance and health, along with the nervous system and by extension, the mind.
Yes, Magnesium Citrate is generally said to be the best form of magnesium to take also. It’s more readily digestible and bioavailable than other forms.
Taking both supplements has definitely helped me start to push past the double detox.
More is NOT Better:
If you’re one of those people who think that more of anything that’s healthy is better… Well, there’s a balance needed in everything. The only Vitamins (NOT Minerals) that you can go a little crazy with are the B and C vitamins, because they’re water soluble. Drink enough water, and what your body can’t safely use is flushed away. All other vitamins are fat soluble, which means they’re much harder for your body to eliminate any excesses. Minerals like Magnesium are in a whole other category:
As an element, magnesium is neither water-soluble nor fat-soluble. When combined with oxygen, however, this essential nutrient becomes water-soluble. However, it has a slow dissolution rate, which means it isn’t as bioavailable as some other water-soluble nutrients.
Bottom line, be careful about exceeding the USRDA of Magnesium. My Red Ginseng supplement has a 6000mg (6 gram) daily dose. Most sources I could find indicated that was OK. They also recommended a 3 week on, 1 week off cycle, which is common with most herbal supplements to prevent side effects and resistance being built up.
The Good News…
Is that the combination is working. It’s not a total cure, but I’d estimate it’s 80% to 85% of the way there. The cravings are diminished a great deal, and my energy and mental focus are both up. THAT, in turn, has allowed me to continue with my exercise routine as well.
How’s it going overall?
I’ve lost almost 10 pounds and 2 1/2 inches off my waist, even with some days lost due to the walking dead syndrome I’ve beaten, and a sore back from the rowing machine. The actual weight loss would probably be more if not for the weight lifting.
I’m also experimenting with some other things I’ve found online and will post more info regarding them as soon as I’m able to see first hand whether they end up working or not. One that I’m going to do an entirely separate post about right away appears to be the miracle sugar replacement we’ve all been searching for.
Maybe next time I’ll even show you the Clan Silk gym and dojo. 😁 For now…
…and why you have to be skeptical of even so-called fact checking sites.
I’ve been debating posting links to a fact checking site and it’s affiliated network of similar sites for about a week now. I waited to see if I’d catch them in some Snopes style distortions of facts. I did. Ergo, their most recent articles has led to this post on how to analyze stories, ” fact checks” and even people’s arguments.
I’m fairly fortunate in that my college statistics class was also a class in critical thinking and the way statistics can be twisted. My instructor used to say numbers don’t lie, but people do. Sometimes it’s a lack of understanding of the numbers, sometimes it’s deliberate misinformation. The case study for this post is the fact checking of Joe Biden’s claim that billionaires only have a tax rate of 8%.
For the record, I’m leaving politics out of this. The way the “fact check” compares apples to oranges is a great example of how BOTH parties manipulate numbers and followers both. Being aware of the tricks can help you avoid being played.
Getting to the Heart of the Matter:
OK, so let’s start with the basic claim; Billionaires only pay 8% income tax.
The fact check article, claims that the top 1% pay an average of 25.99%, BUT they provide no link to support their claim, only text with different color. This is an OLD trick by the way. Most people will not click links to verify allegedly supported claims, so some sites will use colored text to make it appear they have information links supporting their arguments.
Next comes the apples to oranges part of the fact check. The author quickly moves from their unsupported percentages claim to talking about the overall percentage of the total income tax paid by the populace:
Data from those returns also suggested that this income bracket’s share of income taxes paid rose from 38.8% in 2019 to 42.3% in 2020.
Additional data from the National Taxpayer Union Foundation also showed that the share of taxes paid by the top 1% of all income earners in the U.S. increased from 19.3 percent in 1980 to 42.3% in 2020. Among the top 5% of taxpayers, that number increased to 62.7% in 2020, according to the report.
First, there’s no active link to any government site to verify these statistics so we’re again left taking the article author’s word for it. Note the “data” in the second paragraph quoted is another fake link.
The far bigger problem with the statistics quoted is that it ignores the equally important inverse of the equation. If the top 5% are paying 62.7% as claimed, HOW MUCH of the nation’s total income pool are they also EARNING? For the sake of argument, let’s briefly take the claim at face value. HOWEVER, If they’re taking in 62% of the income, it’s only fair that they pay 62% of the taxes. If they’re taking in even more than that, then they’re not paying enough.
Trying to chase down exact figures on what’s made in income vs what’s actually paid after ALL possible deductions is tricky though. I searched and found multiple sites that gave figures on, after the most common deductions that were taken, but nothing specific or showing the full picture. Maybe I’ll take a deep dive of the IRS’s website later.
For now, the important take away is that saying one group pays a certain percentage without providing the corresponding percentage level of income earned for comparison is misleading at best.
Next, the fact check gets into a little slight of word:
The White House spokesperson further said that “we are confident this is a fair and true statement.”
“In short, the OMB-CEA analysis incorporates capital gains income,” the spokesperson said.
Chris Edwards, a policy scholar at The Cato Institute, explained to Check Your Fact that Biden uses unrealized capital gains as part of income when he claims they pay only 8%.
The same article as above
The word game is the difference between “unrealized” capital gains and actual capital gains. The very short explanation is that capital gains are taxes paid on sold investments like stocks. UNREALIZED capital gains are boosts in the investment’s value that aren’t actually earned yet because the investment hasn’t been sold. Since investments go up and down, they’re not taxed until sold for a profit or loss.
So, the point here is that actual capital gains income is a completely different thing than unrealized capital gains (which are NOT income). The article tries to use the terms interchangeably though without any supporting evidence that their claim is correct.
An important secondary piece of information is that capital gains are taxed completely differently AND SEPERATELY from normal income tax. Also, IF capital gains are promptly reinvested, they’re subject to little if any taxes since the reinvested money is then treated as unrealized capital gains. Capital gains also aren’t factored into the income tax statistics normally, which is apparently what Biden did.
Do capital gains make that big a difference in wealth and taxes paid? Absolutely. Warren Buffett has repeatedly said that his secretary pays more taxes than he does. He’s said that while lobbying for income tax reform. The reason why the secretary pays more however is because the vast majority of Buffett’s income is generated via investments that pay capital gains tax, not income tax. Buffett is solidly in the top1% also, but his secretary sure isn’t.
Within the scope of the fact check though, since neither side offered evidence to support their claim about the nature of the capital gains (actual or unrealized), the reader is left with no real information about who is telling the truth.
the lack of distinction between the two types of capital gains, and the misleading comparisons between percent of income paid and percent of the total tax burden shouldered improperly slants the article decidedly against Biden’s claims however. The fact checking site calls the claim “misleading” but not an outright lie. That MAY be the case, but without supporting evidence from either side, it’s very difficult to know.
This is why you have to question everything you’re told. Just because an “authority” says something, especially without supporting evidence, does NOT automatically make it true.
The same is also true of the ever present “computer models” as an authority. There’s an old programming analogy of “Garbage In, Garbage Out“, which means you can twist a computer’s analysis of anything by simply cherry picking the data you give it and twisting how you tell it to interpret it.
PS: Do NOT mistake Buffett’s efforts at INCOME tax reform as benevolent either. What he’s advocated for would put more strain on the lower and middle upper class and keep them from getting to the level of being able to compete with billionaires and mega-corporations. Always look for the ulterior motive.
It was the best of tech, it was the worst of tech… Hell it was the only real tech at the time, LOL. The first computer I ever used was the super powerful IBM 5150 PC-XT
This was in 1983 during my junior year of high school. I did it to escape from taking Algebra 2 for my math class that year. Yep Computer Science was a math elective back then. Anyway, this monumental powerhouse featured:
IBM PC DOS version 1.0 as it’s operating system: The OS was contained on a single 5.25 inch floppy disk (160 KB capacity single sided!) because hard drives were still about the size of the computer case at that point and several thousand dollars, in 1983 money.
Completely command line based also. No Windows style GUI (Graphical User Interface).
Intel 8088 CPU: with a blazing 4.77mhz processing speed, and yes, single core.
2 of the previously mentioned 5.25 inch floppy drives: used to boot the machine and load the OS.
Options for Massive Onboard Memory: Anywhere from 16K to 256K 😯
A Massive 11.5 inch green screen monochrome CRT monitor: Almost 13 pounds in weight and an amazing resolution of 720×350. The refresh rate was 50 hz vertical and 18.432 hz horizontal.
A State of the Art Sound system: equal to the little tweaky-bird speaker used for system alert beeps (POST, etc…) on more modern PCs.
Input Options: That AT style keyboard in the picture. That’s all there was then. No mouse, no touch screen, no light pen or stylus…
Networking Options: ZERO. The internet wouldn’t even exist for another 8 years, and PCs were new enough that IBM didn’t have any options yet for LANs.
Before you laugh too much, that keyboard was built so tough you could pummel somebody with it, plug it back in and go to work. There are plenty of them still working today. Just try finding a PC/AT to USB adaptor though, LOL. The rest of the system was just as reliable, unlike today’s machines. You can still find them on sale at Ebay and elsewhere.
So what did you do with some an overwhelming piece of technology? Command line coding in IBM BASIC (Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). You could write programs to help with math problems, text based games, etc… I remember one of my class assignments was to write a program that created a mad-lib.
For you kids who are too cool to do anything that isn’t digital, a mad lib was a fill in the blank word game, often in books. You’d be asked to pick a noun, verb, adjective, etc… for a specific blank, then you could read the story when done, filling in the blanks with your chosen words. Yes, the stories made no sense, but that’s what made them fun and funny. The program prompted the user for the random words and then filled them into the story I wrote and displayed it on-screen with an option to “dump” the story to the dot matrix printer nearby for a hard copy.
We learned the basic (pun intended) structure and flow of programming though.
Ballpark price was $1500 in 1983 money which comes out to about $5500 nowadays when adjusted for inflation.
Computer #2: The First I Actually Owned
Behold, the awe inspiring might of the Commodore Vic-20!
Commodore’s Vic-20 was the first computer to sell over a million copies. It was really half PC and half console gaming system, with it copying the Atari 2600’s cartridge based software format, for both games and productivity software. That tape deck on the right hand side of the picture was one of two other data drive options; recording or saving programs on cassette tapes. A 5.25 inch floppy drive was also available as an option and was about the same size as the Vic-20 itself, and twice the cost.
Since alot of you younglings aren’t familiar with the tech, the Vic-20 also used a television as it’s monitor. The two black cables in the upper right corner were part of the hook-up there. The one closest to the Vic-20 console is the switch box designed to change the input from the Vic to the TV antenna or cable.
The processor was even weaker than the PC-XT’s at a blazing 1.02 mhz. It had 20 KB of ROM (Read Only Memory) and 5 KB of RAM, with a few cartridge based options to expand that. On the plus side, the sound was better than a PC-XT with 3 true sound channels and 1 noise channel. It had a 16 color display with a resolution of 176 x 184.
Are you beginning to see where that whole “PC Master Race” thing against consoles started? LOL
It cost $299.95 back in the day, which would be the equivalent of $970 in 2022 money. Makes that over-priced X-Box seem not so bad now, eh?
So what did I do with it? I had some BASIC books and continued to learn to program. I didn’t have either of the permanent data drive options though, so whenever I shut it off, I lost all my work. I had 3 or 4 game cartridge also, one of which was a Commodore clone of Asteroids. Yes copying everybody else’s hot game idea is absolutely nothing new, LOL.
I got the Vic-20 from my grandmother on my dad’s side as a birthday present. One of the best presents I ever got, since it entertained and educated me.
Since then I’ve used Apples and PCs. I started building my own about the time the 486 machines were on the market, and Windows 3.11 for Workgroups was THE operating system. Good parts were cheap back then if you knew where to shop. Take away of the day; when I say I’ve been playing the game a long time and I see patterns in technology, trust me. 😉
There was an moment in an old movie or TV show, I can’t remember where exactly I saw it, where two of the characters are discussing the idea of remaining calm like a pond of undisturbed water (very Zen), and one of them remarks about how some people just have to throw rocks into that pond no matter what. THAT, sadly, seems to be the case with the in-laws.
Stereotype and cliche, right? LOL. Ironically, I got along great with my other half’s parents before they both died. My own mother, who is typically so toxic she makes pit vipers cringe, loves my other half also. Part of the reason we moved away from California was to be closer to my other half’s cousin, aunt and uncle since they’re the closest thing to immediate family on that side. Needless to say, that hasn’t gone as planned.
The problems have been long running, and started as soon as we moved here. My cousin in-law has the habit of showing up late for anything planned, not to mention waiting until the last minute to cancel or confirm. He’s also used COVID exposure (always from his church) as an excuse to cancel get togethers 15 times, give or take.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for us was when he didn’t even bother to invite us to his wedding until 3 days before. Work days, mind you. Well, they would have been if we both didn’t have a severe case of COVID at that point.
He didn’t know that before feigning an invite though. Nobody can tell me anybody who waits till 3 days before a wedding to invite really wants the invitees there either. Did I also mention despite knowing about our financial situation with the house lawsuit, etc… that they expected CASH as a wedding gift because the merged household and four children now in the blended family were too much of a financial strain? Not made up, they literally said so. At the wedding, they just let everybody think we stood them up also instead of mentioning we had COVID. Some family.
Since all that went down, we’ve been shut out for months. Not even an acknowledgement of the Christmas card we sent the aunt and uncle, much less something as simple as a Merry Christmas text.
Last Night…
We got invited by the aunt and uncle to a belated birthday dinner for my other half. Yes, nobody remembered until a week after the fact. Then they pleaded ignorance of the actual day when we were at the restaurant. Funny I recall them remembering the couple years before.
On a related note, I have two nieces and a nephew. My half-sister, as I’ve mentioned is fairly self-centered and trailer trashy. We never miss sending a card and gift for the kids’ birthdays and Christmas though. They know who we are and that we’re family, shunning them because their mother occasionally gets on my nerves would be cruel. I don’t have a huge part in their lives BUT I want to make what small role I play a positive one.
Then came the ambush about how to reconcile with everyone (mainly the cousin and his new family)…
First, I do NOT think a restaurant is in any way an appropriate place to be airing the family’s dirty laundry. Dare I say wildly inappropriate and bad form as well? If you want to do something like that to avoid a possible shouting match, schedule a meeting at a park, and find a secluded spot to talk. It’s public, neutral ground and offers more quiet and privacy.
We barely got in a word during the “talk”, but we did get a long parade of excuses about why nothing was their faults, the cousin was fine showing up an hour late, ruining dinner I’d worked on all day and then demanding to know when it was going to be ready… because that’s just how he is. ALSO how despite me gently chiding him EVERY time he showed up late… even right in front of them a couple of times, nobody had a clue anything was wrong. That with any of our complaints.
I could go on and on. Part of me wants to also, BUT let’s cut this short. Reality is, we’d been politely raising objections for a couple of years. They just kept blowing us off and now are surprised when we reached the breaking point.
Our Unreasonable Demands:
Please note the dripping sarcasm in the subheading there.
We got quite a bit of gaslighting about our expectations of minimal courtesy of course, lest there be any doubt though… All we asked for from them all is to get together once in a while, and to not wait till the last minute to confirm or cancel. Splitting up the holidays a little instead of taking everything away would have been appreciated also, as would at least a simple text message on a birthday or holiday.
Apparently too much to ask though. Last year my Birthday even got cancelled so the cousin and his fiancée could go to Atlanta to hang out with friends. They literally display a sociopath’s lack of awareness.
Well, after we got home, we talked between the two of us. We agreed that a relationship wasn’t real unless there was at least a little give and take. We were willing and literally have gone the extra mile to be accommodating of schedules, etc… Expecting a thank you text for a Christmas card while they’ve shut us out of the holiday completely though; too much to ask.
We’re done at this point.
We both have been working hard at bettering ourselves since the New Year. We’ve bumped heads a few times too as we fought past old habits. Both of us agree that we deserve better than to be taken for granted the way we have been though.
I actually thought this MIGHT have been a hoax, since I couldn’t believe even Microsoft could be so blindly greedy and stupid. After checking my PC just now though, it’s correct. M$ has removed WordPad from Windows 11 after the latest update.
WordPad was part of Windows for 29 years and bridged the gap between the very basic Notepad application and the full fledged Word / MS Office program suite. It worked as as a basic word processor and had Word’s most useful features. It also saved files in the same format as Word and could open, read and edit files from Word… usually.
M$, in it’s infinite greed, decided it was better to kill a free option and force people to one of a few options that makes them money. You can subscribe to Office365, buy Office, or log into your M$ account and use the “free” online version of Word.
Note I put free in quotes. Nothing in life is free, at least not from a business, much less a mega-corporation. Staying logged into your M$ account allows Microsoft to track everything you do while logged in, even on different browsers. Just like everything in the cloud and 95% of anything online, your work and activities will be data mined. M$ will then sell that mined data and any profile they build with it to anyone and everyone.
We can thank Google for truly starting the “your personal information is our revenue stream” business model that runs the internet today. It was only 30 years ago that the thought of spying on users was considered a gross ethical violation. Profit uber all however.
Take my advice folks; start looking for and studying up on alternatives. Windows 11 is already glorified spyware all by itself. Between spyware and subscription services, M$ is leading the corporate charge on the idea that “you’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy!”. My desktop is still Win 11 for now, but I’ve already converted my laptop to Linux Mint and I’m learning my way around it. This is another reason I’m glad I switched to Corel WordPerfect.
Yes, after shooting down the idea of the “Witch Wound” as a spiritual scar left on the entire planet in my last spirituality post(I accept the idea of individual trauma however), I’m back to throw water on probably the biggest tin god in the new age movement; the idea of soulmates or “twin flames”.
First, let me explain the specifics of the concept. Twin Flames are what the average layperson thinks of when they hear “soulmates”. It’s the idea of this (in my opinion) completely mythical absolutely perfect match for you. They’re literally the other half of your soul, and if you find them, your relationship troubles are absolutely over.
In the spiritual community, the term “soulmate”, as opposed to “twin flame”, is now used to label what used to be called a “help mate”. That’s a person that you have a connection with, probably have shared a past life or more with, and supposedly have made a pre-mortal agreement to stand by each other (usually as friends), and help each other through life lessons and challenges. Those really obsessed with labels and / or seeking to monetize the public’s obsession with the idea of soulmates have further labels for various kinds of help-mates. None of those are germane to this conversation though. I’m focusing strictly on the idea of twin flame soulmates.
Why The Idea of Twin Flames is Flawed at Best:
Quite simply, it contradicts everything else taught along those lines by almost every school of spiritual thought or religion.
We’re all God’s children
We’re all perfectly equal and part of some greater collective consciousness or whole, whatever that may be per each specific belief system, etc…
Now, if we’re all perfectly equal parts of some greater interconnected universal consciousness or whole, how can some people people be more equal than others and a far more ideal match than anyone else in that collective? I like to use the analogy from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”:
All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
George Orwell – “Animal Farm”
It just doesn’t quite work when you put it in that perspective, does it?
Moreso, the idea has gotten badly twisted by fluffy bunnies. For those not up on new age terminology, “fluffy bunny” was a term coined by Wiccans to describe the influx of young girls who wanted to call themselves witches after Buffy and Charmed became popular back in the day. They had no dedication to the craft, they just wanted to be cool, different and “special”. Posers and dilettantes in other words.
I want to be a witch, just like on Charmed! 🙄
The fluffy bunnies lacked a true understanding of the concept of twin flames but latched on to the idea that there was somebody out there that was perfect and would love them no matter how much baggage they were carrying. Poser students of Eastern philosophies also latched onto the idea on a superficial level and helped turn it mainstream.
The Deeper Understanding is Pretty Scary:
The way the idea plays out for those who have a deeper understanding is that one’s soulmate is intrinsically so desperate to reconnect permanently by getting you both off the wheel of reincarnation, that they view absolutely ANYTHING as fair game to push you through the lessons you’re supposed to learn this life. Support is great, but pain is a better teacher for most people, and the pain is justified since it’s for the greater good of being truly re-united. The pain that can be inflicted is often so bad that twin flames don’t incarnate in the physical world at the same time just to avoid it. One will stay in the spirit world and act as a sort of guardian angel for the one in the mortal world.
I’ve heard stories from people who were (are) fairly spiritually advanced about the level of pain inflicted by so-called twin flame soulmates. Exceedingly ugly doesn’t begin to describe it.
The ONLY time twin flames allegedly get a perfect life together is their very last life before they’re ready to become truly perfected beings and evolve off the wheel of pain (reincarnation).
All of that even assumes the concept is valid however, and I still question the idea. If we’re all spiritually equal, we’re all equally suited as partners for each other.
The Real World Problem With the Idea of Twin Flames:
Have any of you who are in love with the concept thought about the damage it’s done to numerous relationships? The biggest problem I see is that people (more often women) are inclined to slap that “soulmate” label onto a relationship early on. They’re happy, everything is new, and the label helps rationalize both the relationship and deepening it quickly. When things get tough though, then there’s the “oh well they’re obviously not really my soulmate, I need to look elsewhere”.
That may happen fairly early in a relationship. It may also happen after there are multiple kids, a mortgage and all the challenges that come with settling down. Somebody comes along that manages to spark an infatuation and suddenly it’s “oh, THIS must be my soulmate”.
Regardless, the fairy tale of a twin flame creating a perfect life for you is just that; a fairy tale. One that keeps people from realizing that relationships actually take hard work, honest communication and considering the other person’s needs and feelings as much as your own. The idea of twin flames has become an excuse for narcissism, selfishness and a lack of willingness to put in the work in a relationship. Just throw it all away if it’s not effortless, somewhere out there is a twin flame who will cater to every whim and make life perfect on every level with no work on your part.
Silly, right? If that’s not a recipe for chronic disappointment and suffering, I don’t know what is. Yet there’s a whole movement out there devoted to teaching you how to find or manifest your “perfect soulmate”. It’s typically only a credit payment (or series of payments) away.
But What About Helpmates?
This is an idea I can accept. Nobody’s more equal or literally made for each other. They’re just somebody you have history with over the course of one or more lives. Since they know you so well, they’re in a better position to be that friend or family member that’s there when you need them and visa versa. I personally like the older, more accurate term of helpmates also because it doesn’t carry the same expectations that “soulmates” does.
In Conclusion…
Forget the idea of finding a perfect twin flame soulmate. IF they even exist, the odds are that they’re either watching from “above”, OR have reincarnated on the other side of the world to keep from causing the wars that happen when twin flames are pushing each other to become perfect.
Instead look for somebody that you have a true connection with and care about enough to put in the work to make a relationship work, and they’re willing to do the same. Great relationships don’t pop out of the ether, they’re built through hard work, trust and communication.
I found this via an MSN home page link to stories about discontinued toys; things like an old make your own lead toy soldiers kit. I was mildly shocked and very amused when I stumbled across it:
I never heard of it, but I was late getting on the Potter bandwagon. I’m shocked Mattel couldn’t see how this was a BAD idea. 🤣
I’m running low on energy today as I’m still decompressing from no longer being saddled with a quarter million dollars in debt. Ergo that’s it for now. I’ll try to get back to regular posts ASAP.
A pyrrhic victory is a victory that comes at a great cost, perhaps making the ordeal to win not worth it. It relates to Pyrrhus, a king of Epirus who defeated the Romans in 279 BCE but lost many of his troops.
Yes, that’s what I’m writing about. For those who forgot, today was the hearing in superior court to decide the future of the lawsuit we filed against the guy who sold us the derelict house in Georgia.
I wish there was more to report on the hearing itself, but the reality is that everything just got postponed since the seller’s new lawyer needed time to familiarize himself with the case. Assuming we stay the course, the next hearing date is in May. HOWEVER… There was indeed a victory… of sorts.
What Came Next…
After I got out of court, I drive by the Georgia house. Not only was it still standing (surprisingly), but it was also occupied! Given that there was even new construction for a shed or small garage (just the foundation thus far), I knew it was NOT likely to be squatters either. I pulled over to the side of the road as soon as I could and got my other half to call the mortgage company. The house was still listed on Realtor.com as last sold when we bought it a few years ago.
As it turns out, the mortgage company did sell it, AND at a price that allowed us to break even on it. We’re debt free once again and no longer have the threat of bankruptcy hanging over our heads!
The Pyrrhic Victory part comes from the fact that the mortgage company is claiming that it sold the house at an amount that only allowed us to break even. That means as things currently stand now, we’re out the $50,000 down payment that we made on the house… 20% of our total purchase price and almost all of our former life savings.
Where to Go Next?
I see three options at this point.
The firstoption is to take the easy way out. Consider the $50,000 an expensive lesson. Georgia realm estate law is almost totally “Buyer Beware” predatory capitalism. The loophole that gives us a chance of winning is that the buyer is required to disclose any deficiencies in the home that they have special knowledge of and the buyer would not be aware of as a layperson. The seller is a contractor who did extensive work around the house, and even had his bragging about it recorded in the bank’s appraisal statement. Then there’s the lying on the seller’s disclosure statements as well.
On paper, we could win. We’re dealing with the good ol’ boys network in small town Georgia without the benefit of a lawyer of our own though. It’s just as likely as not that the Judge could accept “I didn’t know” as a legitimate excuse, even though that’s not SUPPOSED to be legit. This is the same judge who was shown pictures that proved the home inspector’s report wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on and said “Nope, no fraud or negligence here!”
The inspector deliberately crawled over to the far left side of the attic to snap pics hiding the gaps in the beams. Left side shot is what you see from the top of the attic entry ladder.
There’s also the reality that the seller will probably bury all his assets and / or declare bankruptcy to avoid paying out IF we even win. It’s the way people like him play the game.
Option #2 is that we roll the dice and continue the lawsuit anyway with the goal of recovering at least some of our money. See last paragraph for the risks there. I also have to factor in the emotional, physical and spiritual drain all of this has been and would continue to be via prolonging the lawsuit.
Option #3 is kind of a roll of the dice, BUT I’m considering it. There’s a rule in lawsuits that you go after the deep pockets. That, in this case, is the home inspection company and their liability insurance provider. Yes, the case against them was already thrown out, BUT if I can convince the judge that they perjured themselves to get the case dismissed, that would allow the case to be re-opened.
IF I can make that happen, then PERHAPS I could persuade the seller to testify that he was misled by the realtor and home inspector about what needed to be disclosed… in exchange for dropping our suit and giving him the opportunity to recover his legal fees from the home inspection company.
On the surface, he’s Machiavellian enough to do it. The problem comes in expecting people like him to think rationally or do the right thing. He and his attorney may very well see it as a sign of weakness and indication that we think we have no case or are outgunned. It may be better letting them just underestimate us for the time being.
Then There Were The Side Issues…
The first one is rather or not to approach the new home owners to inform them of the asbestos and radon in the house. If they’re at all paying attention, they found out pretty quickly. Even if they were not paying attention, the bank that sold the house after foreclosing on us was legally obligated to disclose that information because we informed them that’s why we never moved in. We told them so they had to pass it on.
From a minimalist perspective, we did our part. From a moral standpoint, it bothers me a little not informing them. Mommy dearest advised me to just keep my mouth shut, lest they find a way to sue us for the house’s defects. Given the sue everybody, no good deed goes unpunished mentality in the country, I’m inclined to agree.
Can ANYBODY tell me why we need 4K resolution on that low a quality of animation?!?
Then there was the question of the mortgage conveniently zeroing out so we didn’t owe anything. Given the sleazy way everybody involved in the whole situation has acted, I STRONGLY suspect that if I went down to the county courthouse again to check the records, that the house sold for a good bit more than what it took for the mortgage company to break even, meaning we’d be owed money back… It’s too convenient a figure, and would also mean the mortgage company was willing to sell it truly “as is” as opposed to misrepresenting it’s value and condition as they did the first time they tried to sell it for full market value. MAYBE if they sold it at auction as opposed to via a realtor, but never trust a banker.
Lest ye doubt me here, it’s an old lender’s trick to write lowball pre-approval letters for home seekers to try to get a lower price. Helping their client by possibly lending less money is secondary at best. They’re trying to get the collateral for the mortgage at below market value, so that if they foreclose, they’ll have an even wider profit margin when THEY sell.
The things you learn as a Realtor… No wonder I couldn’t stomach the job’s morals.
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