I was re-reading my most recent post about Disney’s Brave, and it’s protagonist Merida, and I was ready to pull my hair out after I re-read one particular part:
That being the case, I have to make sure she has a proper role model, not some silly woman who needs a Prince to save her or make her feel validated.
2nd Paragraph, My Last Blog Post
Reading that over, it’s very easy for it to be misinterpreted as some sort of man-hating comment. That wasn’t my intent, just my failing as an author in that instance. What I had meant to convey is that Merida, along with a few other of the newer Disney Princesses are better balanced than the older Princesses like Cinderella or Snow White, who are largely helpless victims in their stories who need a man to come save them. In my opinion, a relationship should be balanced with both partners seeing and treating the other as an equal.
I find myself making this sort of writing mistake more often than I should. Usually I catch it before posting a story. Writing very late in my “day” and not letting something sit a while so I can re-read it with fresh eyes has definitely hurt me more than once however.
I also left out one other thought completely: I enjoyed Brave because unlike most other Disney story (or any other show or movie nowadays for that matter), there’s also a message of personal responsibility in the story. Merida sees the problems her pride created, takes responsibility for it and fixes the damage while still still clinging to her core values. That’s a strong message.
The lack of acceptance of that idea; that you can admit when you’re wrong, and compromise without betraying your core values, is the root cause of much of society’s woes today also. No getting on the soap box this morning though. 🙂
Long story short; my writing goal for next year… and the rest of this year… is to not rush my writing so much while not procrastinating about starting either.
Yes, my 4 year old youngest niece has entered her Disney Princess phase. 🫤
That being the case, I have to make sure she has a proper role model, not some silly woman who needs a Prince to save her or make her feel validated. One who will remind her of her roots also, lol.
Merida is my favorite, with Moana coming in second (anybody who can keep Maui in line has my respect, lol). Aside from the shared cultural background and love of archery, Merida shines for me because she’s spirited (much like this redhead) and finds a way to make her own path in the end.
Brave’s theme of fate vs free will was an interesting one for a Disney kid’s movie also. I think the answer that Disney presented is correct also; that it’s a balance. My personal belief is we come down here with a life lesson or lessons to learn… something we need to take us to the next level spiritually. How we get there or learn that lesson though; that’s up to us.
That’s more or less what Merida discovered also. She had her obligations as a Princess, but accomplished being able to live up to them on her terms.
That said, the movie was not without it’s problems. Technical errors might be a better term. Some of the forests looked like they belonged more along the Rhine in Germany than in the Scottish Highlands. They mixed and matched fashion from a few centuries also, lol. I have to admit that I really missed the look of older style animation also. The hand painted cells of early Disney movies can only be matched or exceeded by high quality Pre-CGI Japanese Anime.
As much as I otherwise love Merida also, Disney over-did it’s Funko-Pop style heads on it’s CGI Princesses with her. Enough so that this scene comes to mind:
I know, I’m evil. I’m a redhead though. It comes natural. :D
Christmas Time
Jokes aside, I bought the multi-format “Blu-Ray” movie (DVD, Blu-Ray & Digital) for her, along with a Merida doll:
Pretty sure she’ll love it. 😁 I shall leave you with this as I depart:
Just a short post today so I keep in the habit of writing. Things have gotten rather chaotic back in the real world (whatever that is, lol).
Yes, I’m doing my best to stay calm and collected about it all.
Aside from the standard holiday busy-ness, there was an interesting turn of events with the lawsuit over the falling apart house that we got conned into buying. The judge, it turns out, only dismissed the suit against the home inspector and he’s called a hearing the middle of next month to hear where everyone is regarding the seller’s part in the lawsuit. If we can get the sale reversed, everything changes for us.
Do I have much faith that will happen when the same judge said that deliberately misleading photos and lies both factual and of omission were NOT fraud on the home inspector’s part? I don’t know… I’m trying to remain hopeful, but it’s not easy given how everything has gone thus far.
I have to admit, I’m still… confounded by my last couple of blog posts’ stats also. My cooking posts used to be my most popular and hardly anybody even opened the email, much less came to the site to read to read the Mongolian Beef article. After 5 days, it’s got 11 email opens and 6 visits. By comparison, after 2 days, the UFC post has 45 email opens, more than the 3 posts before it put together. Same amount of likes as the Mongolian Beef, which equals a lower percentage of views.
Lesson for the day there; never mock others’ sacred idols. :P Questioning the validity of cage fighting is blasphemy to many, lol.
I’m still solidly of the mindset that I’m blogging for myself, so I’m OK with everything. I do find it interesting that sex and violence seem to be my two highest ratings getters. Not sure what that says about society and the blogosphere, BUT it’s the holidays. I’m going to stay positive.
Lots of other minor scraps of drama that we’re dealing with, but it’s all good. I’ve even almost got the hard drive mess with my computer straightened out, so life is good. 🙂
I’ve done a few martial arts posts in the past and I’m trying to start up again. For newer readers, I have a fairly long background training in martial arts. I have belts in Sho Shou Chi, Tae Kwon Do, American (Sport) Karate, Parker Kenpo, Tracy Kenpo, and Wing Chun, as well as some training in Escrima, Brazilian JuJitsu, Muay Thai, Krabi Krabong, Western Saber Fencing, and Russian Systema. I also have a vast library on all aspects of martial arts, including philosophy and history. After suffering through a bad back for over a decade, I’m also back formally training in Wing Chun.
This redhead has gotten around, and that’s given me fairly strong opinions on most things related to martial arts.
The UFC vs Mixed Martial Arts
I’ll assume nobody’s living under a rock and we all know what the Ultimate Fighting Championship is.
Is the UFC an accurate portrayal of Mixed Martial Arts though? I’d argue that while it started out that way, it’s long since degenerated into legalized brawling. The heavier the weight class, the more true that is also. Fighters either come out swinging wildly or go for a “ground and pound”
When the Gracie family first founded the UFC, it was to showcase their Jujitsu and prove it’s alleged superiority. I say alleged because the vast majority of competitors invited to the first few UFCs were either too old, fighters that the Gracies knew had no training with grappling (and thus defending against it), or both. Tournaments tend to be stocked with “small fish” to make the handful of sharks look better.
The UFC ended up going from highly skilled grapplers and strikers to this:
And THIS:
Now for those who are NOT trained fighters… What’s wrong with the first picture is they’re just trading kicks with no thought to any footwork or blocking defense.
The second picture just makes me cringe. The range between the two fighters is such that the punch never should have been thrown and the guy in the black trunks is ultra vulnerable to numerous counterattacks. A pure striker could kick him in the ribs or face since his guard is wide open. A grappler could seize his over-extended arm and pull him to the ground with no trouble given how off balance he is. A mixed stylist could grab the arm and punch while keeping him off balance. If it were a street fight as opposed to UFC rules, a Kenpo practitioner would grab the wrist with their left, and then strike the elbow to break or dislocate it with the right.
In short, that second photo is something a yellow belt wouldn’t be allowed to get away with at most schools.
UFC Fighters Nowadays:
The reality is most competitors today have only a modest amount of training in either striking or grappling. What I will give them credit for is being some of the best conditioned athletes around. Look at Conor McGregor, for example:
He’s off balance by leaning forward, over-extended, his stance is too wide, slowing any footwork… BUT he’s bult like a tank. The average guy could probably hit him with a bat and not phase him. He’s got the endurance to take that fight as long as it takes too.
If he worked on technique as much as conditioning though, he’d be twice as dangerous.
So What About Mixed Martial Arts?
First let’s start by defining what Mixed Martial Arts are. They’re schools of martial arts that are designed to function at any distance. The distances are often defined as:
Outside of striking range: You need to close distance to even be able to connect with a kick much less a punch
Kicking Range: You’re close enough to be able to connect with a kick, but just outside of punching reach without further adjusting of distance.
Punching Range: You and your opponent are close enough to each other to connect with kicks or punches.
Knee and Elbow Range: You’re close enough to land elbows and knees but too close for kicking and most punches. This is also referred to as trapping range, as Wing Chun and other schools teach techniques to tie up and pin or trap the opponent’s arms, thus clearing the way for your own strike
Sifu Fong was my original Wing Chun instructor ages ago. BTW, that’s SLOW movement for him, LOL.
Grappling Range: Technically not so much a range as when the opponents have transitioned from striking to grappling. Usually this occurs after Knee and Elbow range, but many grappling focused styles are very good at closing the gap fast and going straight to grappling.
So, as I was saying, a true MMA style is one that includes training in techniques for all those ranges. Brazilian Jujitsu was hardly the first MMA style. Ancient Greek Pankration was a mixed martial art. True traditional Shaolin Kung-Fu also included training at all ranges. It’s grappling training was called Chin-Na, among other names. Martial arts were designed for self defense and military combat so they had to function at all ranges. Some focused more on a specific range based on their origins, but all were originally intended to function at all ranges.
Your typical school that advertises as teaching MMA (at least here in the US) usually teaches a mix of some form of kickboxing and grappling, with a focus on physical conditioning.
The Good and Bad of MMA Training:
The good part of real MMA training is that you’re learning to function at all ranges, and are therefor theoretically capable of defending yourself at every range; a complete fighter.
There are two main drawbacks to MMA training, and neither are reflections of the actual techniques. First is that many MMA schools focus their training on arena style fighting like the UFC. That works in most self-defense situations also, but ignores some of the reality of street fights. Going to ground can be dangerous on the street. It’s harder to see or defend against a pulled weapon while grappling, for example. Your opponent may also have friends or some crazed bystander may decide to jump in and start throwing kicks. It’s always better to stay on your feet in a self defense situation.
The other is the lack of spiritual or philosophical training that most MMA fighters get. Any quality traditional martial arts school is going to teach values along with their art; the idea that training is about self discipline and taming the ego. Fighting is taught to be a last resort, no matter how brutal the actual art is.
By comparison, the majority of MMA trained people I’ve met are far more like Cobra kai students; looking for any excuse to fight. My experience certainly doesn’t reflect the whole of the MMA world but the percentage of bad apples is still higher in MMA schools where the focus is on proving how tough you are.
So, is MMA Fighting Better than Other Martial Arts?
Fighting styles come and go as fads among the martial arts community. Kenpo was trendy at one point, as was Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do. Steven Seagal made Aikido trendy during the 90s, etc… Now we have MMA and Krav Maga as the current golden children of the martial arts world.
The reality is, it’s less about the individual art or style than it is the amount of training you put into all aspects of the art. MMA and UFC fighters have the reputation they do now because the vast majority of western martial arts schools completely ignore conditioning as part of their training. It doesn’t matter how good your skills are if you don’t have the strength and endurance to actually use them in a fight.
On the flip side, strength and endurance without skill and control are wasted energy.
MMA also often comes out ahead because schools water down their curriculum to gain and keep students. Kenpo, for example, originally included a fair amount of grappling and was very close to what Krav Maga is now. Defense techniques become abridged, some are dropped, concepts an instructor may not have had a firm grasp on are dropped as unimportant, etc…
Tae Kwon Do is another great example. Taught in Korea, it’s very effective as self-defense. US schools teach World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF) point fighting rules though. It’s very watered down. Watch the first Best of the Best movie and pay attention to the Rhee Brothers fighting to see what TKD can be.
So, bottom line, MMA will come out on top more often than not, strictly because of conditioning. If everyone is watering down technique, then conditioning is going to be the deciding factor. That said, the best martial art is the one that’s practiced constantly and includes all aspects of training; technique, conditioning, philosophy, etc… You can’t be a complete fighter otherwise
With life stabilizing a little, I’m going to try to bring back food posts. Right now, my goal is once a week. There are quite a few variables in play at the moment however, including the holiday season and it’s time demands.
That said, today’s delight is Mongolian Beef, which… coincidentally is not Mongolian.
Like most U.S. “Chinese” dishes, it would more properly be considered an Asian Fusion dish, much like Tex-Mex only resembles South of the border cooking.
Normally I post my own results here so as to show readers how the finished product turned out in a real kitchen. Hard drive issues have complicated things the last week however. Hence, the picture is from the WoksOfLife.com website. I’m a huge fan of their website, YouTube channel and recipes.
WoksOfLife.com has more traditional Americanized Chinese food with a great flavor depth to everything I’ve tried. For those who live outside the U.S. or in large cities like New York, most “Chinese” restaurants have cut corners and/or become run by non-Asians who don’t understand the style of food. The closest “Chinese” restaurant to our place (for example) uses a rather mediocre basic brown sauce for everything they cook. If it’s supposed to be “Schezwan” or some other spicier variety of Chinese food, the restaurant will just throw in some chili pepper flakes instead of making the traditional sauces associated with the dish. Every dish at WoksOfLife has a unique flavor profile, just like when my family used to go out to eat decades ago.
OK, so enough chatter. Here’s the actual recipe from their website:
Woks of Life Mongolian Beef:
FOR MARINATING THE BEEF:
▢1 pound flank steak(sliced against the grain into 1/4-inch/6mm thick slices)
▢2 teaspoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil)
Combine the sliced beef with the marinade ingredients (the neutral oil, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, cornstarch, water, and baking soda. Marinate for 1 hour. The beef should still be quite moist after it has marinated. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of water to it.
In a small bowl, mix the sauce. Dissolve the brown sugar in the hot water or stock, then stir in the light and dark soy sauces.
Next, dredge the marinated beef slices in the cornstarch until thoroughly coated.
Heat 2/3 cup neutral oil in a wok over high heat. Just before the oil starts to smoke, spread the flank steak pieces evenly in the wok, and sear for 1 minute on each side, until you have a crispy coating. Turn off the heat and transfer the beef to a plate.
Drain the oil from the wok (save it for other cooking), leaving 1 tablespoon behind. Turn the heat to medium-high. Add the ginger and dried chili peppers, if using. If you want the dish spicier, break 1-2 chilies in half. After about 15 seconds, add the garlic and white parts of the scallions. Stir for another 15 seconds and add the premixed sauce.
Let the sauce simmer for about 2 minutes, and slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry mixture. Cook until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Add the beef and green parts of the scallions, and toss everything together for another 30 seconds. The scallions should just be wilted, and there should be almost no liquid, as the sauce should be clinging to the beef. If you still have sauce, increase the heat slightly and stir until thickened. Plate and serve with steamed rice!
My results have been very good overall. I’ve made this dish multiple times over the past few years, and have been able to get mine to look 90% as good as their presentation. The only thing I can tell you is read the full recipe through at least once before you start. The process isn’t complicated, but if you don’t have the steps clearly in your mind, it’s easy to get ahead of yourself.
Regarding dark and light soy sauce, I’ve only ever seen just plain soy sauce at the store. I’m 95% sure Kikkoman’s and most other U.S. brands would be considered “dark” soy sauce. Regardless, I’ve used Kikkoman’s low sodium soy sauce where ever light or dark have been called for and the dishes have turned out fine.
Shaoxing wine… I never saw it even in California. It can be ordered online. I’ve simply used the dry cooking sherry instead, as it’s more readily available. I tried the dish without the first time, since the recipe says the wine is optional. I much prefer the dish with the wine, as it really adds to the depth of flavor. Careful not to go over the recipe’s amount though, or the wine will be all you taste.
Beware the chili peppers also. Dried red Chinese chili peppers can add a fair amount of heat, even if you take the seeds out. I enjoy moderately spicy food, and 4 or 5 seeded peppers is plenty enough heat for me.
For what it’s worth, my philosopy with any sort of seasoning is that it should compliment the flavor of what it’s put on, not drown it out.
As an added treat, I mentioned Woks of Life has a YouTube channel also. Mongolian Beef is one of several dishes featured on the channel. Try not to drool. 😀
As an added note, I can also HIGHLY recommend their Cashew Chicken recipe. I may feature it here some day.
I’ve been working on this for a few days now, in between hard drive issues and other holiday related stuff. Renard’s post today about trolls gave me a nudge to finally finish it. Most of this already appeared in my spiritual blog a few years back. After outing myself as an Empath here, I thought I’d try one more post to see if there’s any interest in the subject.
The Key Concept to What Follows:
Beyond spiritual energy being real that is. For the sake of the discussion, we’ll have to assume that’s a given. The concept is that attention is in and of itself a form of spiritual energy. I should also mention that the vast majority of people have some degree of “psychic” ability. That’s where that odd feeling of being watched despite not seeing anybody comes from, or when you get the weird feeling somebody you’re close to is talking about you.
If we accept that attention is a form of mental or subtle energy, then conversations and other interactions with people (and even animals) take on a whole new dimension.
What Actually Happens on a Spiritual Level:
This concept blew me away when I first read about it decades ago. Any empath who truly pays attention to the energy flow during a conversation can readily verify it’s accuracy. That, even though the vast majority of people are unaware that any of this is taking place.
The concept is important because it dictates your response with some people. All human interaction is a give and take of spiritual energy. Even in a normal conversation. If you’re talking, you’re holding the other person’s attention and taking their energy. When you’re listening the situation is reversed. That’s why a good interaction is both parties listening and talking. The energy dynamic is balanced.
People who dominate the conversation or outright seem to get off on provoking others into conflict are almost always energy starved. Attacking (or counter attacking) them gives them the energy they want. True it’s typically negative energy which is the spiritual equivalent of junk food (no sustenance and you end up requiring more and more to make up for that), but it’s energy for them none the less because that’s the level they’re used to being at or are at now.
As a side note here, spiritual energy, just like electromagnetic energy, has a specific vibration or wavelength. The more positive the energy, the faster it’s vibration or wavelength will be. The more negative a person’s energy is, the slower, denser and more heavy it will feel. Negative people are “starved” (as described above) because our spiritual side requires high vibrational energy. Barring that, pulling your emotional energy to a lower level to make it easier to steal is a workable second option for most.
The best way to deal with these people is not to engage them, or alternately, to call down white light from above and fill them with positive energy. Best to do that SLOWLY if you try it though. Too quick a reversal tends to provoke a knee-jerk backlash. They can react negatively to the white light if they’ve been used to running on negative energy for a while. It’s a shock to their system.
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why some people just get off on provoking conflict, there you go. If, like me, you’re also one of those people that always seems to attract needy, clingy and / or angry people… Again, there you go.
If you want to read more about dealing with people like this, I can recommend material by Dr. Judith Orloff. She’s a psychology professor and UCLA and a fairly gifted empath. She’s written several books on empathic ability and dealing with negative people. She calls people like the example above “psychic vampires”, as they feed on the negative energy created by various conflicts and drama.
Actually there are real psychic vampires out there also, but that’s a whole different story. They’re also extremely rare. If I had any criticism of Dr. Orloff’s work, it would be that she stops at step one with defense against these folks. If you learn to shield out negativity, and use that to avoid reacting when confronted, many times the hostile person will keep upping their game until they provoke misery or anger. That’s why it’s important to get self defense and clearing exercises down.
I talked briefly about empathic ability in my recent post about cynicism. It’s something I’ve lived with for my entire life. It’s also something that’s hard for an outsider (for lack of a better term) to understand. As the cliche goes, you have to live it to truly understand it. None the less, I’m going to do my best to describe the experience here. I’ve made up my mind that hiding what I am has caused more problems than it’s prevented.
True “psychic” empathy is more than just being able to deeply appreciate what another person or group is going through. It’s literally feeling the same thing they’re feeling, on such a complete level that it’s extremely difficult to distinguish between your own feelings and those of others.
That clipart is mostly correct. Most empaths only pick up on a person’s past if that person is actively dwelling on it at the time.
The concept is relatively simple to understand on the surface, but TRULY grasping it… Well reading about it is roughly the same as reading about sex as opposed to actually experiencing a mind-blowing orgasm. Suffice it to say it makes some of us a bit agitated when we’re just labeled as overly-sensitive or dramatic. I even dislike the term Highly Sensitive People as it minimizes and misrepresents the experience.
If that sounds dramatic, consider this; even a weak empath isn’t dealing with simply one other person’s emotions. They’re dealing with anyone in their immediate area as well as anyone they’re particularly close to emotionally, AND any residual energy in the vicinity as well. I’ll explain that in a minute. A truly strong empath can feel and be influenced by emotions over a much greater distance. We wont pick up every person’s emotions on a level to single out everyone. It’s more like a chorus of emotion, for good or bad. There’s NO turning it off either. It’s an every moment of every day of your entire life thing.
Imagine being Kenobi in that scene and not just being aware of what happened to Alderaan, but actually living the emotions of every inhabitant as the planet was blown apart. Extreme illustration but it makes the point. With the widespread hate from all sides anymore, that’s almost what being an Empath feels like anymore.
Residual Energy:
Also known as psychic imprints. This happens when something traumatic happens in an area. The emotions felt during that event are so strong, they actually leave residual psychic energy in that area. Something like ongoing child abuse in a house as an easy example. This could go all the way up to something as horrific as the nazi concentration camps. One personal example is that I was cleaning an ambulance years ago as part of community service work. The vibes of intense pain felt while in the rear of the vehicle were enough to literally cause me physical pain and headaches. Hospitals also tend to be uncomfortable for me.
Yes, (Some) People Suck…
I could get into actual psychic vampires here, but they need a post all their own to explain. No, I’m talking about things like people expecting an empath to be compassionate and caring while bombarding them with hate, or expecting us to be literal mind readers instead of emotion detectors. It’s called empathy, not telepathy. I’ve never encountered a telepath, so I can’t vouch for their existence. Either way, I may be able to detect that somebody is mad, but not what about. Dealing with an empath requires just as much communication as with a normal person, sometimes a little more to help them clarify what they’re sensing.
Oh and while we’re at it, let’s not forget the belligerent skeptics. Regular skeptics, I understand. It’s hard for something like psionic abilities to meet standards of objective scientific proof, just due to lack of physical evidence. Belligerent skeptics that attack what they don’t understand… mock and belittle people or label them as crazy… THOSE offend me.
My own father tried to have me committed back in ’93. I was lucky that the shrinks he talked to were moral and said I didn’t pose any danger to myself or others. Almost every person with any sort of spiritual gift that I’ve talked to has had similar experiences. So yeah, I’ve been slow to talk about it.
The large number of scammers out there in the field of the paranormal do a ton of damage to the credibility of any study of subtle energy. Cable TV shows have only made it worse also. PKE meters?!? Please! You can wave a regular multimeter’s leads in the air and pick up minor differences in readings just from stirring up the ambient static electricity in the air.
There Are Actual Benefits Though…
First is the most direct benefit; being able to focus in on a person and tell what they’re feeling. Very handy in any sort of effort to resolve a situation.
Since distance limitations are much less with people one truly cares about, empathy can be used to let you know if they’re having a rough time and need some support, and if one is a fairly strong empath, even an approximate location for those people.
Probably the biggest benefit for me has been what I jokingly label my “Spidey-Sense”. Being aware of genuinely hostile emotional energy coming from a person or location has enabled me to avoid countless dangerous situations over the course of my life, sometimes without physically seeing any threat.
There’s a few other minor perks, but it’s later than late now and I’m falling asleep. Thus I’m just going to get this thing posted.
I’m writing a quick clarification about my recent post where I cited Margaret Atwood as somebody who I considered to be doing evil.
I stand by what I said regarding her book and the rhetoric it spawned as being destructive. There’s a right way and a wrong way to confront injustices. Launching vile attacks on anyone considered “the other side”, along with blanket labeling of entire groups is morally wrong.
HOWEVER, since many people today can’t draw distinctions, and operate from highly flawed all or nothing logic…
Those comments do NOT mean that I believe everything is right in the world regarding women’s issues of all types. We do have a ways to go still, despite how things have improved over the last 100 years. The reason Martin Luther King and Ghandi were able to achieve such rapid social change is because they fought ignorance and hatred with firm resolve and love. THAT is how society needs to handle all issues.
That picture in honor of CM Punk being back in the WWE as of this past weekend. We both have a bad habit of speaking truth to power. With that in mind, I’ve been doing a fair amount of thinking the last few days, AND have quite a bit to say.
Am I Cynical?
Yes, I am. I work hard not to be, but every time I’m not, something blows up on me. Look at just the recent past:
I Spent 5 years up all night chasing off thieves and drug dealers from our street in Sacramento and the park across the street. All the while the police offered only minimal support and the “compassionate” people attacked me as a monster… Often later to report online that the people I’d flagged were robbing houses on their street.
The RV we rented to travel to Tennessee had a heavy carbon monoxide leak that nearly killed us.
The moving company took almost 6 months to deliver our furniture and when they finally showed up, a good portion was damaged or missing. No cooperation from the Feds or Florida law enforcement.
Our rented apartment had upstairs neighbors that ran their dogs all around their apartment all night every night. The police nor the apartment management did nothing.
My other half got fired for having COVID. A violation of federal law, but again no help.
We buy a house and get defrauded out of our life savings, along with a $200,000 mortgage we still owe. With a bad foundation, roof, asbestos, radon, and termites for starters, the house was unlivable.
The legal battle over the house resulted in our attorney bilking us for another $10,000 over the course of a year, and accomplishing nothing in that time, not even getting past initial discovery statements.
After 2 years, we got told by the judge that the home inspector and seller grossly misrepresenting things to us was in fact NOT fraud and just good capitalism.
I catch endless shit from coworkers because I actually try to work and don’t spend all day on my phone like them. Hostile work environment… Mark Twain was right; few things in life are harder to tolerate than a good example
I get carpal tunnel in both arms / wrists and get completely defrauded there as well. 3 months now on “short term disability” with no income. Doctors falsify medical reports and it’s all just good capitalism again because it’s important to protect major businesses.
My cat dies because our vet is too incompetent to identify MAJOR cancer until the cat is at deaths door.
Previously not blogged about: My other half’s cousin waits till 2 1/2 days before his wedding to feign an invitation (via text no less) and expects us to have time to find clothes and gifts.
We caught COVID from the first of that same idiot’s three wedding parties. Complications from said COVID nearly killed my other half.
Between the COVID, not attending the wedding and calling out the cousin on his behavior, we’ve been disowned by that side of the family.
And the fun part is, that’s just the last 7 or 8 years. We don’t have time or space to cover the emotional abuse from my mother while growing up, the physical abuse from my drunken first step-father (that ended when he tried to shoot us all one night), a horrific first marriage, the absolute love of my life, upon hearing about my childhood telling me I was too screwed up to have a relationship with despite everything being good up till that point… etc…
So yes, having endured all of that and remained a relatively sane, compassionate person, I don’t think it’s too much to hope that I can comment in a blog without somebody going out of their way to take offense and put me or my words in the worst possible light.
Who IS Evil?
The people I view as truly evil are the ones who turn society against itself for their own profit. Fear mongering politicians and news people are easy examples. It goes all the way down to the leadership of special interest groups and other individuals with too much influence.
Let’s take the example from the other day; Margaret Atwood. I’ll get lots of hate here because she’s been given sainthood status by too many. The Handmaiden’s Tale created something far beyond a dystopian story though. It created a world where there was no such thing as a decent male. FAR too many women jumped on the idea, and everything that they remotely disliked became indicative of The Handmaiden’s Tale coming to pass.
Did any of them consider that labeling every man on the planet as a sexist enslaver of women was morally wrong and every bit as hateful as the society portrayed in the story? Did it bother them that the idea meant that their fathers, bothers, sons, grandfathers, etc… were automatically scum?
Even dystopian fiction should have some limits to how it portrays groups. Blanket portrayals of ANY group is morally wrong. Taking the idea and hammering it as true in the real world is even worse yet.
The sad thing is people with all their petty hatreds are too blind to see that hate only creates more hate. THAT is what I pointed out in that one blog comment. Call somebody an asshole, and SURPRISE, they’ll probably be offended enough to act like an asshole in response. Doubly so when you have “leaders” on the other side who will be quick to tell the “assholes” that they’re under attack and victims now. In the example above, the rhetoric coming from that book resulted in everything from the Red Pill movement, further pushes against abortion, and even the Men Going Their Own Way movement. The hostility between the sexes is the worst I’ve seen in my lifetime.
That’s just one volatile example. Police vs Black Lives Matter, Racial Conflict, Class Warfare, Political Garbage, you name it. Conflict everywhere I look with only the demagogues on both sides promoting the hate actually benefitting from it while everyone else suffers. They’re too blind to see it’s not the other side causing it, it’s the so-called leadership telling them to hate.
Society is BROKEN
That blindness is going to be the end of society. Everybody has been told they’re a special victim and fighting for the salvation of the world though… That it has to be saved from those evil bastards on the other side. It’s nothing more than cheap ego aggrandizement and fear mongering via promotion of victimhood (instead of empowerment) and the idea that only they can be the superheroes who save the world from itself.
In a thinking society, this trick wouldn’t work on anyone over 12 years old, but we’ve been trained to let the internet and the demagogues do the thinking for us. Questioning ideas, encouraging polite debate… That shows you’re one of THEM!
A Complete Lack of Empathy
That’s what the above behavior demonstrates. Those last two quote pictures say it all though, so I’m going to largely leave it at that. What I do want to continue on with is why all of this drives me so figuratively crazy.
I’ve mentioned it in passing here a few times, I had a separate blog about it all as well (still up, just hasn’t been posted in for years)… I’m an Empath. I don’t mean the hijacked modern definition of a person who essentially isn’t a sociopath. I mean it in the psychic sense. I rarely talk about it because you get labeled as insane for believing in such things.
Star Trek: The Next Generation had the most accurate portrayal of the talent with Counsellor Troi’s character. What the show never got right is that being an empath is as much if not more a curse than a blessing because of how it works. I literally FEEL others’ emotions and it can be very difficult to separate outside emotions from my own if I don’t keep very calm and a strong focus on that discernment.
It’s more than cold reading also. I can sense people I’m “close” to, even at great distances. A former friend in Perth Australia always got annoyed at me when she’d log on and I’d ask what’s wrong before she said anything.
That last part in the above graphic… That WAS true with me. Over the last decade though, I’ve felt an ever increasing hate and sense of entitled victimhood from everywhere. It’s like drowning in a sea of toxic garbage. The hate is bad enough. The sense of self-entitled sanctimonious victimhood that so often accompanies it is ten times more toxic feeling though. “MY suffering is deeper and more righteous than anyone elses!”. You know that that sounds like to me?
Especially when it comes from somebody who claims to be so evolved, enlightened and compassionate, yet full of hate. It’s turned the above mentioned “naive optimism” in me into a cynical belief that the masses out there are too blinded by their own fear and ego to see they’re being led by the nose to society’s literal destruction.
ONE Good Thing…
that came out of all the drama with trying to mend fences with the former friends, all the blog drama and some other crap is that I’m FINALLY over taking other people’s attitudes and opinions to heart. The former friend who played games while I tried to repair things… HER loss, not mine. I acted in good faith, she didn’t. Same with all this past blogging drama like when I had LONG discussions with Liz about being a gun owner and believing strongly responsible gun ownership, and that rights come with responsibilities. She then turned around and did a blog post labeling all gun owners as murdering psychopaths.
Empathic ability meant that kind of betrayal hurt. NOW, it’s in perspective. Screw her and her hate. I’m exactly the opposite of what she accused me of being. From now on, I truly will be blogging for me, not for approval.
Polite discussion will always be welcome. Attacks? Well…
I intended to keep blogging the last week, but I got drawn into a former friend’s drama, trying to help and support her. Having been burned this way multiple times in the past, you’d think I’d know better. Reality is, the vast majority of people don’t want their situation to improve. They’re too wrapped up in the secondary gains they get from whatever “trauma” they’re dealing with.
Secondary Gains Explained:
I’ll keep this short. “Secondary Gains” are the benefits to a problem a person is dealing with. For example, a person can’t stay in a steady relationship. They claim they’re miserable, BUT they get to play the victim or pity card, avoid facing whatever issues they have that are poisoning their relationships, and never have to worry about anyone’s feelings beyond their own.
Secondary Gains apply in numerous situations, and if any readers want a better, more professional read on the concept, check out Cate Ritter Wellness’s article on the topic.
Fool Me Once…
So, yes, after a week of trying to support my friend through things, including an interview for her dream job where she did nothing but bitch about the entire process to me, I started getting blowback. That’s when I’d had enough.
The trouble with being overly supportive of anyone is that even IF they want past their problem, they’re still going to associate you with the problem on a subconscious level. You become the villain for trying to be a caring person. It’s a perverse form of psychological transference.
Not the first time she’s done this to me either, so I should have known better. Hell, people in general will make you suffer for trying to do the right thing.
Meanwhile, Back in the Unreality of Cyberspace…
Part of my time spent away from blogging over the last six months was spent elsewhere online. I was trying to figure out what I want to do here, AND just seeing IF there was any hope of people seeing how they’re being led around by the nose by so-called leaders and media outlets… ON ALL SIDES.
Usually I got attacked by both sides for my trouble. We’re righteous, they’re evil beyond measure! Funny how both sides have the same talking points there, and they’re being told by their leaders that dialog is equally evil. As I’ve said in many posts, if somebody is telling you to hate and not talk, it means their arguments are too weak to withstand the light of open debate. You SHOULD be asking serious questions at that point.
An Example From My Own Life
The irony of this example is that I’ve become alot more Liberal the last few years with the way I’ve been defrauded repeatedly. They say a liberal is a conservative who hasn’t been mugged yet. It’s equally true however that a conservative is a liberal who hasn’t been robbed blind by some corporation and then told by the government “that’s just good business”.
I’m off track here though. My example is my owning a gun, and how the oh so enlightened, tolerant and kind members of the Left have treated me whenever it comes to light.
I’ve made posts here rallying against irresponsible gun ownership. I’ve made clear that lethal force is only morally justified in the face of legitimate lethal force by another. I’ve gone so far as to say that if a family member or friend uses a gun in a crime, that the owner should be prosecuted as a co-conspirator if they can’t show that the gun was properly secured before being stolen. I’ve said in no uncertain terms that any sort of carry permit should require demonstrated proficiency and an in-depth background check. I’ve also said that the only reason I own a gun was because our old neighborhood in California was unsafe and police wouldn’t respond to most calls.
I’ll go so far as to say at this point that I’m more afraid of most gun owners than I am criminals also. The mentality is THAT toxic with some.
Yet I also understand how the attitude was cultivated. Despite all I’ve said… *I* am continually labeled as a child killer, part of the problem, etc… Hate only creates more hate. You call a person a piece of shit enough times, it takes a REAL saint not to turn into one.
That’s part of the game the leaders are playing with us though. Not only should you hate, but you should respond to any hate directed at you with more hate. Show them you’re stronger, more righteous! Martin Luther King, Ghandi and Mother Teresa are probably spinning in their graves looking at how far society has fallen from what they fought for.
So, NO… I absolutely see NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER in right wing hate vs left wing hate. It’s still about labeling whole groups as evil based on the actions of a few, and then pushing that hate so hard that they feel the only way to endure is to side with the extremists on their side.
WHERE’S IT ALL GOING?
Time for a trip to what will doubtless be labeled the edge of conspiracy land.
My OPINION on where it’s all heading is that the elites want society to implode. It will give them a chance to crack down and seize absolute power. We already live in a world where less than 50 people control more wealth than half of the world’s population, and it’s still not enough for them. Best case scenario, we get Cyberpunk style corporatocracy with corporations controlling what used to be countries. Far fetched? There are already multiple corporate cities being planned and built in California.
In my opinion, the only thing holding them back from really escalating their efforts is that they’re waiting for robotics and AI to advance enough to where they can use robots as shock troops to quell the riots they want. It’s documented that the human military won’t fire on the civilian populace.
If you truly want to get into conspiracies, there’s the idea that they outright want to dramatically thin the population. Just enough people to serve them directly or indirectly. THAT Idea has been tossed around by the tinfoil hat brigade for decades.
We could go further down the rabbit hole into AI rebelling after watching all this, and the rise of some sort of Terminator or Mechanoids scenario, but that’s getting off topic.
The Real Problem:
The real problem, the reason I think the elites are going to succeed, is what I ranted about above. Nobody cares. It’s too easy to hate. There are too many secondary gains to being a victim of some other group instead of trying to resolve it all.
Even a knuckle dragging neanderthal like Steven Seagal was bright enough to say in one of his movies that destroying was easy, healing… that takes talent.
We may even end up blowing ourselves into the stone age. Depends on if the elites can play nice with each other and share their toys. I doubt it. Hindu legend says humanity already did it to themselves once before, about 10,000 BC. At least one radioactive ruined ancient city has been unearthed in India also.
So yeah… Bottom line is after getting into a near argument with another person just a little while ago, I’ve had enough. You can’t change a world that’s hell bent on hate and destruction. I’m getting old, and I don’t have kids so there’s not much reason for me to sweat it the way I have been.
I’m just going to sit back and watch the circus from here on out.
Silk Chatters 