- Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
- If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
- People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
- No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
- Never lick a steak knife.
- Take out the fortune before you eat the cookie.
- The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
- You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
- You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
- There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
- The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
- Your friends love you anyway. Thought for the day: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.
Should one never give up on a good thing, even when it makes one unhappy?
If you took the words of Nietzsche, if pleasure and displeasure were coupled together in a tight fit; however, they are not nor could they be, just as day and night are separated by a veiled distance of time. In other words, just because time (or, indeed, the pleasure / displeasure or pleasure / pain dichotomy) follows a continuum it doesn't necessarily follow that the different time points on an imagined time grid cannot be separated or that night and day are one and the same thing. Admittedly, it might be tricky at times to pinpoint exactly the right spot that day changes into night and verse versa.
However, as J S Mill said: no two things are exactly alike, as there is always a measurable difference between them. Also, do not forget that the Nietzsche quote above is not a truism but a proposition; hence the qualifier "if".
Then again Psychologists would most probably come back with the fact that in today's society most people are so emotionally illiterate they do not know what happiness is any more.
But on the other hand, life however is not about happiness, but it is about happiness hand in hand with sadness. Life is a journey of both joy and sorrow. Again, the media have a lot to answer for on this aspect of society's 'perception of happiness' - because countless trashy magazines, mags that are not worth the paper they are printed on - send out a false message that the money, fame and opportunity afforded by stardom enables some higher state of happiness - when anyone in the industry knows fully well such celeb stories are usually full of rubbish and cheap PR stunts.
There is no such thing as a person who is happy 100% and those who project themselves as being so are usually hiding unhappiness away, whether consciously or unconsciously
Many Developing Nations of the world, in particular those that have been relatively cut off from the rest of the world are perceived as being harsh places to live, where the people must be unhappy. Quite often the reality is very different. Money and material gain do not bring happiness of the permanent sort. Often those living in relatively undeveloped places are more happy than those living in the world's most cosmopolitan places - because urban living can put unnatural constraints on people's lives and lead them to live in ways that are contrary to their mental and physical health. In the UK workers work longer hours than anywhere else in Europe - so no surprises we have a serious drinking problem with rising cases of liver damage, diabetes and drinking related cancers, because people struggle to cope with very long working hours and in some cases turn to drink as a solution, when in fact it does more harm than good.
The moment we tackle the emotional denial pandemic that has infested the cultures of the UK and US in particular is the moment that the media stops throwing meaningless and destructive messages at society and teamed with this we have a better education system and a culture that embraces diversity and does not try and dictate that people aspire to a rigid list of 'achievements'. People were not designed on a production line and we are not mentally wired to all march along to the same tune. When society embraces tolerance and diversity on a scale we currently do not see, then those living in emotional denial will have the platform to express their true nature and find real happiness.
See what happens when friends of mine come and ask me for advice about their state of mind and future....
So the phenomenon of private armies is NOT actually that new (historically speaking) but the Oscar nominations this year for BEST DOCUMENTARY would indicate that Iraq has created a faux-rebirth of the "mercenary", solider of fortune etc.
...or at least public awareness of the phenomenon.
Blackwater is notorious (even the horrible new version of "Knight Rider" makes a campy attempt to reference them in their pilot episode...) and the harsh criticisms of people like Jeremy Scahill (agree or disagree) seem to go largely accepted as the most accurate interpretation of what's going on.
I can't believe humans haven't evolved beyond physical "war" (wonder why that 70% of the brain remains UNUSED?!) but at the same time, I also dispise when documentaries try to spoon feed me an opinion of onslaught quibble.
So, on the subject of mercenaries.... I am curious what the going public opinion is?
Are these people like baristas of war (the moral code/fair trade evaluation of their work should be on a case by case basis) or is the general assumption that they are all evil.
*CLIFF NOTE* side note, one documentary (it's film makers) were brought in to testify in U.S. Senate on the subject and reported how odd they thought it was that our knowledge of the back story is such (even as high as U.S. govt) that documentarians are being brought in as "field experts"
okay.....meaningful....
*CLIFF NOTE* the film that garnered its makers being brought into Senate is called Shadow Company (www.shadowcompany.com); As far as I know, they are the only investigative (both pro and anti) film that has support from Amnesty AND Blackwater.
People dream in black and white, but they only see the important things in colour. highlight pen principle. How do you think Herr Stabillo made his millions?
Beer gives you a big fat stomach and flatulence. Is there a need for farther discussion. The dutch have tried to scientifically explain the need for a dail dose.
I see only when people who indulge in this campaign, that the only thing they exceed is their girth.
I know also that some dieticians recommend a wheat beer as part of their dietry balance. This is because most dieticians who prescribe this are neglecting those people of natural minerals and vitamins and that the body needs a jump start for the metabolism.
Recently I found myself in a treasure trove heaving with beauty. Beauty in the shape of man... and woman. I stood silently amongst sculptures painstakingly, sweatily, laboriously and passionately [I like to imagine] created centuries before we, in here, ghasped a drop of air. Sumptuous forms which look liquid in stone as daylight drapes across chiselled faces, strong noses, brilliantly symmetrical cheek bones and almond eyes. Lifeless locks quietly wait to spring free from delicate heads. Firm torsos, gentle chests, slender fingers all lie a mere whisper away from pulsating. Pert bottoms ready to flinch. Haha. Pert bottoms. Oh the temptation to squeeze them into life. And no, I didn't.
Yet such physical perfection would be literally impossible. Surely. So I wonder why I gleaned such pleasure from feasting my eyes on these creations. (Perhaps for the very reason that it could never be real. Shouldn't we all strive for the ideal?).
* In your eyes, what is the perfect figure? * What would be your 'beauty in the shape of man or woman'?
Nothing compares to Max’s “Do the Dada thing” threads, where two side-by-side thread titles create pure abstract fun.
But I’d like to try a variation. Here you create a unique sentence/idea/story using two threads titles, not necessarily placed next to each other (yes, I know, it kind of loses the whole Dada element—but so what! At least this is not a relationship thread!).
Do it.....
E.g. To all Corsicans in Asia: teach me about champagne!
hootsmann Forum Posts (73)
RE: STRICTLY MEN - WOMEN KEEP OUT
I'm in!