Waste Not,Want Not, Patience Is The Key.

Laser Beam Focus

2011-12-26T03:40:00.003-05:00

I am attempting to maintain laser beam focus on achieving goals that can only be done through identifying and facing the fears that lead to diverging thoughts and procrastinating behaviours. I have some mantras such as:

Couchlock: This phrase helps to identify when I am locked into a couch staring into the face of a computer screen and especially useful when I have to use that information to get out of my trance and get to work.
It's taking too long, start again: When the procrastination process of diverging thoughts has led to so many new branches away form the initial intended action that I need to remind myself to start again. Quite useful
Laser Beam Focus: A term to remind myself to be focused on my goals
100% : A phrase I think to myself when I ask myself, "How could I get a 100% on this assignment?" And then I do better at the task. Generally a good anti-laziness phrase.

New Direction :

2011-10-16T21:53:00.004-04:00

This blog is changing direction. I have deleted several posts from here which were written under a different time and space and sense of self which I don't relate to any more.

The blog was an experiment and I hope that the writings that have remained can be appreciated for their value as a learning tool.

I am going to take this blog in a new direction or it will just stay static as it is now.

Thanks for reading.

I am bored

2011-05-06T10:49:00.003-04:00

"I am bored"

You are bored? Then breathe. Breathe and look around. Be alive in the moment. Your boredom is the fabric of your mind being shaken by the waves of subconscious images that fly through your eyes at light speed without you even knowing that; causing boredom in waves upon waves. You might imagine that being on a boat and each wave making you want to look to a different direction which is your boredom physically moving you left right and center. It is rare to see this happen in slow motion, but you can notice it if you pay attention.

However your breathing calms the waves and so then automatically breathing with an intention to be at peace and calm brings you to experience the reality in front of you instantaneously. So breathe. Then you won't be bored, because the waves will be weak, and you will float to your destination no matter how strong your outside waves are, because your inside waves are calm/

When you experience your reality, either through inebriation (temporary and forgotten) or by being truly alive and reclaiming the most powerful force in your universe (breath, and that of your mind,) by breathing you can use your mind to do something useful: Which is to assess your immediate surrounding and be alive in that moment of assessment. Even while your subconscious repeatedly assails you with images that drive your actions and cause you to believe you have an active role in the voluntary actions that when looked at deeply can be seen to be a product of an involuntary image. That is, the involuntary voluntary life-style you're living is actually your own choice, but not under your conscious control. Unconscious choices and boredom. Breathe actively, and combat these illnesses.

Reclaim breath, and reclaim life. Your mind is your tool. Consciousness is the creator.

{ps: this is consciousness talking to me. I am sharing this with people who might be slightly interested in it, not intended as a commentary on your life. I am talking about my own.}

enlightenment

2011-05-05T17:08:00.002-04:00

Thinking is the most time consuming activity I don't do every day.
Thinking is the most time consuming activity I do every day.

Words make pictures and pictures make words. Thoughts are words, that come from pictures. Emotions are feelings, that come from pictures. Noises make pictures, pictures can make noises. I am a picture, magnified into thought, projected into form.

Intention is the currency of my current life. Intention is your currency too. Find that and find the lever to hold your weight on the fulcrum of the images you use and invent.

Good Luck

Gaming the system

2011-04-14T17:26:00.001-04:00

Tinkering with the gamification of a service is fun!

Through the micro and the macro, there is consciousness.

2011-04-12T21:04:00.006-04:00

The really incredible power of the mind is that it is the most amazing gadget we have at our disposal. Way more incredible than an Ipad 2. The mind is a powerful tool and has such a high processing power that sometimes it doesn't realize that it can't be its own Operator. I am the operator of my mind. What am I though? I simply am. I am a result of the karma of all the past events that lead to my birth, starting from the birth of the universe. That is quite a statement. I am. I have been misled by my mind into thinking that my consciousness is a thing to be reached, grasped, had, told, ordered, or induced through yoga, meditation, desire, or imagined by the mind itself.

My consciousness is beyond the comprehension of my mind. I am not my mind. I am consciousness. I realize that I am consciousness with the humility of the knowledge that consciousness is also the creator inside this universe, and possibly also the creator of the universe. I am also emboldened with the idea that I was intended to exist. I may not have a purpose until I realize my consciousness. I am realizing my consciousness everyday and the truth of this realization is so basic but so incredibly difficult for the mind to grasp. The moment you enlighten your internal cavernous mind, it can realize that Consciousness, not the mind, is the creator. With my realization I feel a great sense of certainty, and a feeling that whatever I imagine, I can overcome my mind's quivering mass of doubtful images and limitations. I can do this with the power of my intention, which is derived from my Consciousness. There is no rational argument or mental image that is too strong to be overcome now. I am the arrow, and my intention is the energy through which I can fly to my goal, the target. The mind wavers and sees no possibility for my arrow to fly, for it sees no reality of a bow, let alone the archer. However, with the consciousness as the intention, I the arrow, can use my mind to summon an archer, construct a bow, and become transported through space and time until I reach my target.

I am consciousness, which is the creator, and my consciousness, is the creator. Through my intention I can use my mind to imagine and realize a new reality. With this realization I am not limited by what my mind perceives as its physical limits. Ultimately, the realization to attain peace is to be able to understand that I am the creator. Inside of time, this means, my consciousness came from the creator, and will return to the creator, and is the creator. Outside of time, this means that eventually, I will become unified with the creator. That the end of the universe, Trillions to the power of trillions of years from now, when nothing will exist anymore, is a long time, and in that time, I will not exist, but my consciousness, which is real, will be unified eternally, beyond the end of time.

uQR.me

2011-02-14T02:53:00.000-05:00

This is a technology first invented: 1994. Used in japan.

Now. 2011. for the first time, a non-nerd like me can create their very own Qr CODE!!!!!!

Point your smart phone at the qr tag and "Captcha it" to visit my Youtube channel.

Youtube

2010-05-20T05:55:00.001-04:00

In case you want to listen to some good shit, check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/ayrabd

my music channel, yeah!

Catwalk

2010-05-02T18:00:00.002-04:00

Oh I go on a catwalk every day.

Oh Tiger, he wants to play.

Oh my, cat is on the way!

And he doesn't care,

that your dog is being gay.

Harrassment

2010-05-01T22:00:00.002-04:00

I've found that I create a huge hole where all my emotional receptors are tuned into GUILT. The power of this channel to warp any happy feelings are too strong and powerful to overcome or deny.

This is a truly ruinous emotion. I don't want to harbor these feelings so when I am able to do it, I pursue a form of meditation that is really meant to be practised every day for years. The problem . However I have found that standing Chi Kung meditation brings a major change to my immediate mental state.

Ironically, the meditation makes me sweat and tones my muscles, since I stand in a posture where my legs are slightly crouched and my arms outstretched. The effect is that my back, shoulders, thighs, and chest, have become toned and strengthened over the past three weeks. That is the by-product of this meditation style. The idea of relaxing, while the body is shaking from the stress...and to overcome the burning feeling of straining to keep the posture through relaxation and breathing, is so counter-intuitive. However, I feel supremely amazed when my arms stop burning. So far, I haven`t tried to wait until my legs stop shaking...haha.

I hope anyone reading this picks up the book Empty Force and tries it out.

Purpose?

2010-02-24T20:53:00.001-05:00

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

Wither art thou?

2010-02-10T03:26:00.001-05:00

Oh Remix studios, doth thou doors be closed?

Hear the Thunder

2010-01-14T20:37:00.006-05:00

This january 23, will be a nation-wide agitation against the efforts of Stephen Harper, The Honourable Prime Minister, to destabilise democracy in Canada for the purpose of creating a situation where his party clutches a never-ending majority.

Dear people, join your fellows in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, and at small towns all over, to grab a piece of history

Noprorogue.ca

2009

2009-12-23T03:10:00.004-05:00

In review, 2009 has been a slow upward moving trend, through the fluctuations. I've got a new cat living with me. He got donated by the nice woman who cleans for us. Her great grand-son is allergic to cats so Tiger got to stay here at our place.

He's such a cute little terrorist and so well mannered!

I just ignore everything wrong he does and pretend like he's not there. Ususually within 2 minutes he gets down from the stove-top!

There's nothing more stressful than knowing your pillow cases are about to get bit to tatters but that if you shout out there's just more chance it'll happen sooner!!!

He even likes to press the keyboard and track the changes on my mom's lap-top, haha, so far he's alright with me stopping him, but he's just a kitten.

Right now he's eyeballing the Christmas decorations.. oh no.... he has just bridged the gap and is stuck in a precarious location. I bet he'll break the giant pot... OH My god!!!! It survived!! That's miraculous.

Now the fucker is playing with the decorative balls..haha..sounds funny.

Signing Off,,

Merry Christmas

D.N.A.

Growth ++

2009-11-09T22:37:00.008-05:00

Hello and greetings, reader.

Destiny

A word that defies itself. Something made from life. The core of each of our being. It is supposed to defy institutions, powers, and situations. Really?

I can't answer for global warming. Our destiny, collectively, is to die.

Personally, though, I have found myself to have over come some situations that would break and kill the personalities of others. I have dedicated a long time for my own personal development. There have been some moments where I cried, long periods of depression, and major upheavals in my ability to cope with life.

The purpose of this post is to outline with as little detail as possible, the power of being a human.

Resilience is necessary in a world that is unforgiving. The weak tend to die off. In this strange society, the weak have made it possible to make a foreign concept live, and thus are living beyond 'the law of the jungle'. The overtly strong tend to become absorbed, and the weak become enslaved by their inability to imagine that situations can be reconstructed and framed in multiple ways. With the right lens, it becomes clear that social engineering is ever-present and relative to a society's inability to collectively 'do anything about it'. Most societies, have had to struggle to gain the ability to voice a single issue of importance through or outside of a currently acceptable avenue. They seem to have undergone serious problems and stressors to their existence, to have developed the ability to lead themselves, but eventually that situation melts back to 'normal' whatever that means. The ever-present fear of all rulers, in my opinion, is of anarchy, and any means of stopping it has been enacted throughout history. And so, we come back, in this circular argument, to society. This society is blessed and cursed by the same thing: Freedom.

Freedom is relative to the amount of imagination a person has within a free society, to do and think and say what is allowed of them within it. What better way of controlling a free society than to encourage and allow outside forces to dictate what is acceptable. Of course, having strong and mentally healthy minds that make their own decisions, is increasingly unfashionable. Only the elite should have this ability. In fact, many roles in society cannot be filled by people who claim to have strong, mentally healthy minds. The rest, who are, by a defined opposition to healthy, are unhealthy, may not be able to cope, and thus need a specific structure and inclination to be 'nannied' and told what to do. Weak sheeple who have given up their humanity for the relative 'freedom' of being allowed to live and eat and fuck without thinking or speaking freely.

Anyway,

Failure is a concept that is relative as well. I have believed for a very long time that I am a failure, either overtly or sub-consciously. However, I have proven to myself that I am actually, successful, and, strangely, I feel successful too. It is not a false sense. There are no physical measuring sticks that hover over us, but if you choose to judge yourself by an external measuring stick, created either by society, your parents, or friends, then obviously, it is very easy to think of yourself as a failure if you can't, won't, or haven't managed to make it to that number, paper, or position.

My benchmark is myself. Am I better than I have been in the past? Invariably, yes.
Does that make me a healthy person? Definitely, Yes.
No one has the right to judge me, though they may, and must do. But the judgement is the application of their own measuring stick to me. So, I can't be measured, and that is not failure, that is, in a different reality, the inability to be measured. Hah! I try my best to not judge people. It is none of my business. I only need to be concerned about my own progress, and the progress of people who ask for my advice.

So, the lessons I have recently learned, though simple, and despite the fact that they are in every self development book, and probably advice given by moms and dads, uncles and aunts, sisters and brothers everywhere, needed a lot of experience to gain.

1) Respect is earned. The simplest way to receive it is to give it explicitly to the people who you expect to give it to you.
2) The easiest way to get no respect, is to expect it without giving any first.
3) The result of this simple procedure for gaining respect, is access to a vast and incredible resource: Another human being's willingness to help and aid you when you need it.
4) Everything is relative: Therefore, consider yourself relative to another, but validate yourself relative only to yourself. Considering and deeply understanding the fact that every moment that you are still alive is a success, then everything you do beyond that is a by-product of being successful at living.
5) Family is the most important relationship to have. To consider having successful relationships without having a solid family one is like trying to pour tea into a broken cup. No matter what you do outside, there will always be a piece of you broken off.
6) Communication is imperative. There are a million permutations of how you can communicate the same message. One of those ways will allow you to be understood.
7) Being understood is the key principle of co-operative life with fellow human beings. Sometimes the problem is that you just haven't learned another's lingo. Being able to adapt to understand what thought-stream a person is in, and to be able to ride on it with the right equipment is imperative to reaching the logical conclusions that are necessary for you to communicate with them.
8) Assertiveness means being able to communicate with an absence of anger, and to be able to transcend self censorship.

These are some of the great leaps of personal growth that I have experienced over the past 2 months. I am very grateful for the people who have allowed me to learn from them, or their mistakes, as I transitioned.

Continuing to grow, I have attained a great asset: Self-Knowledge

Post 102

2009-09-01T12:29:00.000-04:00

gonna buy these when theyre invented

2009-08-29T01:51:00.003-04:00

rap on electro? fuck house

2009-08-29T01:51:00.001-04:00

rap on electro? fuck house

Sound Engineering

2009-08-24T02:33:00.005-04:00

This upcoming week I have to magic myself an acceptance to the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART.org), which is described on the brochure by an ex-student as the 'Harvard of audio schools.'

I don't really know how I feel about that...but Sound Engineering diploma sounds quite awesome, equally awesome to a Chemical Engineering degree, or even a Classics degree.

Despite all the shit I've had to deal with from the past 6 years at uni, I really don't have any more juice to squeeze out of myself for that endeavour, and even though I value its essence and know I could have finished anything, provided I had the right mentality, I am truly looking forward to a real future with something tangible to work towards.

Thank god.

birthday cake@

2009-08-22T16:06:00.002-04:00

Master

2009-08-13T12:53:00.000-04:00

So I want to learn how to produce music. I haven't decided where, or how, but I definitely think that I could be excellent as a computer literate, smart, mathematically aware, cool, hard working (when I want to be), man.

I have long looked away from the arts as a proper form of education...but I know where my calling is...

I enjoy the sense of sound...more than I enjoy the sense of touch, or anything else. I think I enjoy my ears much more than I enjoy my mind being rocked by waves of stress from having to write bullshit papers for bullshit reasons. Maybe if I cared about the things I studied more than as a lip service to the ideal of education.

There are no reasons for me to continue torturing myself. The best thing to do is to cut my losses NOW.

To all you critics, if you're out there... I will prove to you that music will not bore me or scare me. I am the man...

If there was a problem, YO! I'll solve it. Check out the mic while the dj revolves it!

P

2009-08-08T20:38:00.002-04:00

blah blah blah!

I am finished my fourth(fifth)? tour of duty at u of t, with only one casualty.. lol.. myself..

Fucking thing is, I still have two papers to write. I have lots of prapanca around essays...untying those knots of conditioning would be good.

ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHhhhhhhhh it's hard... I hate this.

Jah Love Protect Us

2009-06-08T02:43:00.003-04:00

Live if you wanna live!
Rastaman vibration yeah!
Positive!
That's what we gotta give!
InI iration yeah!

If you get down and you quarrel every day!
You're saying praeyers to the devils I say!
Ooo!H! Why not help one another on the waaay

Make it much easier!

Just a little bit easier!

Say you just can't live that negative way!
IF you know what I mean?
Make way for the positive day!

Said its a new sign!
Oh what a new day!

Pickin up!
Are you pickin up jah?

Jah love,
Jah love,
Protect us!

Jah love,
Jah love,
Protect us!

Jah love,
Jah love,
Protect us!

Rasta man vibration yeah!

Positive!

InI vibration yyeah!

Positive!

Pickin up?
Are you pickin up jah?
Pickin up?
Are you pickin up jah?

Karma - Live if you wanna live!

2009-06-04T03:25:00.004-04:00

Basically, Karma is a cause and effect, according to my notes. I think that I am helping myself immensely by taking this course.

Investing energy into positive goals , can I lead myself to a higher self? I used the ideas I learned, today in my daily interaction.

I apply all 7 negative mental states.

Lust/greed/attachment
Aversion/anger/aggression
Passion for becoming
doubt
ignorance
negative views
and possibly not conceit.

I realise that I still don't know the 4 noble truths by heart. and neither do I know the 3 marks of existence.

My notes are dense

Today, I applied effort, the Right Effort, in order to reduce the arrival of negative mental states. I spoke to someone who was causing me to lose control over my mindfulness.

I seem to always be shrouded by the veil of mental activity that fuses things with the mental activity that surround those things.

Not after tonight.

The idea of mindfulness : According to the buddha, had to do with the recollection of the present. The present to this moment. Now being present in the moment. Which I rarely am, but like being. I crave this present-ness.

I love to know that I am present in a moment. Such as when I am typing and writing for a few minutes I am mindful, haha, I guess.

The metacognition that happens after experiences occur is so quick and subtle, that no wonder you need to train to be a buddhist monk. You have to train to think faster than your brain!

Awesome,,
Mastering control of the mind is so important, I wonder why so little people have that as a priority? Is that true? I may be projecting my personality too much, lol

To be able to recognise the process of mental construction as elaboration, embellishment, and conceptual proliferation...

Tony says that Buddha claims it is the source of our suffering and also the way out of our suffering. I believe it.

Tony thinks its bizarre that we tend to think something has to be true because we think it,

I wonder, if that is the key to so many psychoses, then if mindfulness is taught early, would that prevent an increase in psychosis of individuals stuck in delusion?

Knowing that could make a difference, but being able to apply that knowledge, i guess, is where wisdom and monk training comes in handy, hehe.

Correct Behavior

2009-06-01T22:41:00.002-04:00

The interdisciplinary nature of buddhism is foreign to the specialised nature of the academia. Somewhat admirable that the U of T has a minor in buddhist psychology.

I am happily using the basic lessons of buddhist belief and incorporating it into my own spiritual growth. I want to establish a dynamic balance of precognizing before reacting to my environment.

Also, I want to strengthen my pro-hoc thinking, so as to allow the present to be directed by the current state of the present, rather than pushing my self forwards along a line of action that is based on faulty thoughts.

Ahh... I wonder about this "correct" behaviour that we're learning about today. I am not sure how easily we can assign a vocabulary to such a blunt and 'un-subtle' vocabulary.

Crumple Zone

2009-05-30T00:27:00.001-04:00

The best moment is right before you realise things are about to come to a head.

Crash

Thump

Crumple zone

That's a write-off.

Goddamn it to fucking hell.

I just breathe in light, and breathe out unconditional love, close my fingers together, and accept the present, hope for a better future.

Gotto have a good vibe

2009-05-26T01:24:00.004-04:00

Hey the title says it all. Got to have a good vibe. And I am the first to want to follow that instruction every fucking day. I have advantage of experience on my side, today when my bicycle was stolen, for prime example of meditation being a positive vibration.

I had my bicycle stolen and felt like a victim. I looked for a perpetrator and decided not to blame myself for its theft. After I pissed on the urinal I decided to breathe in light, and breathe out mother fucking uncoditional love to that son of bitch! And I felt warm red heat coming out of my wrists, and my tension eased and radiated in the form of uncoditional love!

I had the ability to dispel my shock and face an anomaly to my day such as my brand new store bought 6 hour old bicycle getting stolen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did it within 20 minutes of feeling victimised, able to maximise my control and emit the emotion as love rather than hate.... It was strange like walking in snow on a 20 degree warm sunny day with your top off and fur boots on your feet.

Awareness and self knowledge

2009-05-22T17:37:00.003-04:00

It's interesting what I'm learning in class, about hatred of things vs. seeking things are both delusions and the equivalent of approaches that go to extremes and don't make us happy.

Yesterday I identified some parts of my 'conditioning' or 'knots' as we are referring to in class, in the phrasings of activities that give me a low ache when I don't perform them. The knowledge that I 'should' be doing my homework, between 10am -12 pM and that I 'should' wake up by 10 am to do it, really causes a disruption when I wake up at 12 pm and feel a low level of self-degradation/ self-punishment for failing to meet such 'easy' targets.

I identified that one of the things that I have categorised in my subconscious as a 'should' is that 'I should be happy'.

One of the other shoulds is 'I should' follow a schedule. For some unclear reason, when I 'should' do certain things without a relevant state that I want to attain or condition myself to attain, then things that I 'should' feel or do or think become unattained, and thus linger in a low-lying tingle of dissatisfaction and the sense of reaching for ideals of 'shoulds' that may be impossible to reach without super-Delanian strength.

The idea of authentic happiness is something of an undefined state of being and comes from an unusual source, and I think it is self-defined happiness, that is the closest I can come to understanding the idea. I have to think that if I am happy for a self-defined reason, whatever that reason is has to be a 'want' rather than a 'should'.

Budddddddddddddddha

2009-05-12T03:44:00.002-04:00

I am talking about my favourite man of the moment Buddha and I'm talking about him in a class, where I have no fucking clue about both Buddhism or Psychology. the great thing is that I don't have to give much concern for the two topics, as the info will be provided. I simply have to assimilate it and perform some sort of scientific study of what intersections there are between buddhism and western philosophy.

Buddha makes me think good

I am quite excited about having had my first day at university. The best thing about it being that I am as excited as I was about starting school back in 2006 when I left the horrible and deathly squalid education labor camp known as chemical engineering and started studying something that actually interested me. I am so much better off taking my time, finishing my undergrad, taking 8 years so what? I don't give a fuck.

Today I learned some similiarities and differences between Buddhism and western Psychology, that we are talking about the most basic concept of buddhism and its intersection, without the aspects of supernatural or religion.

The biggest thing I learned today was that we are meant to 'untie the knots' that we are conditioned to have and that self delusion is not something that a buddhist mentality can call healthy. So if my idea of life pursuits was to have a career to reward myself with endless gifts of material items, that can be considered a source of unhappiness from knowing that these may one day be taken away from one.

Ah I also learned that some gurus are not as innocent as they seem and are capable of doing horrible things to their students.

The day ended with a bang, since I saw all sorts of friends, and had a great time in a group. I couldn't put myself to bed early enough, so I am wanting sleep now.

I decided to listen to some good music that I love,

2009-04-13T23:22:00.004-04:00

Blogging, one, two, three,

I read an essay about Artificial Intelligence, in a book about artificial intelligence, published in the 1980's. I don't remember the name because it was typical and called "Artificial Intelligence" There were many debates about AI that have been thrashed for the past 20 years.

In the essay, an argument about how AI should be conceptualised, in the chapter called AI and Philosophy, I stumbled on a description of a hypothetical situation of a man who wants to freeze himself and come to life 400 years in the future. In between that time, he would want to stay micro managed, alive for 400 years and be unfrozen in a safe situation at the end of his stasis. Since he needs something to take care of his body he creates a protective, intelligent machine, with enough capacity for making decisions to make sure his body is well fed and lubricated, through acquisition of resources, and security.

The machine also takes care of itself and takes measures to make sure it doesn't die or lose out on scarce resources should other people want to live to be alive in 400 years as well, and design their own protective AI's.

Then I diverged from the essay and started to think about myself as an AI capsule for genetic matter, which was lying dormant and trying to transfer itself from period to period, starting from the beginning of time, mutating gently but attempting to preserve the core of my being. I was intrigued.

I had to stop myself in order to remember that this was an imaginary example. However I did enjoy very much, for a moment, thinking "This is the answer: The meaning of life!"

The meaning of life is to procreate?

Now that's a funny thought

I love that liberating moment when I thought I had figured it out, but I chose to protect my mind and keep in mind that it is only a metaphysical exercise

Regards

Dr. Oats

You need a budget

2009-02-07T00:59:00.002-05:00

February 4th, 2009 in Money
Why Most Budgets Fail but YNAB Succeeds from Lifehack

You have no money

Chances are at least one of your New Year’s resolutions had to do with money. So how are you doing on your budget?

I can’t count the number the times I’ve created budgets only to throw in the towel and decide that they just don’t work. Usually my frustration is due to any of the following:

1. The amount assigned to a category just isn’t realistic. After figuring the numbers and seeing I had a little distribution problem, I determined I could eliminate entire categories or set them unrealistically low. I let my excitement and determination to save money and get out of debt cloud reality. Amidst visions of picking up second-hand clothing at Goodwill and planning to cook all meals from scratch using basic pantry staples and spending $100 a month on groceries, I just knew I could make this strict budget work! A month later I was discouraged and feeling like a budgeting failure.
2. Projected income for the upcoming month never manages to be close to actual income. If you’re salaried, this becomes easier. If, however, you’re an hourly employee or an entrepreneur, it’s much more difficult to predict what you’ll make next month. Without fail, a project will fall through, you’ll have to take days off work, or whatever. I’m sure Murphy has a law about this. Just know it will happen.
3. Projected expenses are never accurate. If you do manage to come near budgeted amounts in many of your categories, there will be some unexpected expense that hits you and throws the whole budget off. Your car needed a new radiator. Your child had to be taken to the urgent care center.

Once any of these things happen, it can lead to questioning your entire budgeting philosophy. If you suddenly need to pay toward your insurance deductible this month, do you then take that money from another category? Eventually budgeting can seem like a science that is only for those who have some special know-how, a surplus of income, or are likely living in straw bale houses and making cheese from their goats. All-or-nothing syndrome sets in, and you determine you’re just a free spirit, incapable of being fettered by the tedious nature of budgeting. It occurs to you that since you have some debt already, what’s a little more debt going to matter?

How I stumbled on the software You Need a Budget (YNAB), I cannot recall. I imagine it was likely in my search to find answers to these basic questions above. Spreadsheets, budgets on paper, Quicken, Microsoft Money–all of these just weren’t addressing my budgeting issues. After perusing the web site, I decided had nothing to lose by downloading a trial copy. After only a few days, I was so impressed that I purchased the software.

While you’ll find that YNAB has the same features of charts, graphs, downloading statements directly into the software, etc., that software like Microsoft Money does, you’ll immediately note that YNAB has one major difference: It actually gives you a plan with education and support to help ensure your success.

The YNAB Plan

1. Stop living paycheck to paycheck. That’s what all budgeting advice says, but YNAB takes a different approach that I think is the key to making a budget work. With YNAB your expenditures in the current month are based on your last month’s income. So there’s no guesswork about what you think you’ll make or spend next month. You’re working with what you have.
2. Give every dollar a job. Since you’re working with last month’s income, you will be portioning that money to categories. Every single dollar will be planned for a particular category (or job).
3. Prepare for rain. It only makes sense to set aside money so those unexpected expenses don’t crash your budget.
4. Roll with the punches. I like this one. It promises you will fail! Failing is part of the program. Microsoft isn’t going to tell you that. How many times do we quit because of an all-or-nothing tendency? YNAB makes small adjustments if you overspend in a category. And since failing occasionally is part of the program, you can pick yourself back up and resume your budgeting, knowing you’re still on track.

The company further supports you by offering a free PDF book (upon purchase of the software) and free videos and information on topics of budgeting.

One of the keys to the YNAB philosophy is that you must get a month ahead on your income in order to have last month’s income at your disposal for this month’s expenses. This is the hardest part, but if you look at it as a challenge and take joy in watching your savings grow, it becomes easier. Accumulating a month’s savings is expected to take several months.
A Chat with Jesse Mecham, CEO and founder of You Need a Budget

I have my own ideas on why budgets fail, but I was curious to see how Jesse Mecham, CEO and founder of YNAB, would answer some questions related to YNAB and the challenges of budgeting in general:

Q: Jesse, what gave you the idea to create YNAB with a budget based on last month’s income? I am unaware of any other software that does this.
I was using spreadsheets before marriage, and then after becoming married, I had this idea. I knew I wanted to assign money to categories, but I wondered how I could possibly know how much to assign without overdrafting or getting ahead of myself? When asking someone to create a budget they often don’t even know what they’re spending in the first place. If you go over budget, just keep moving.

Q: So what would you say is the reason that most budgets fail?
The biggest reason is people don’t see a reward that matches their work and their input. So there’s a lot of work and thought up front, and for most people the budgeting process is fairly unnatural. What happens is people don’t see the results they’d expect from the work they put in. It’d be like eating really well for three months and not seeing a change.

Q: How, in this economy, can people get a month ahead in income? Is that advice still feasible? This seems like the hardest step.
It’s definitely is the hardest part, and with the hardest part comes the most rewarding part as well. Consider sales of belongings. The goal is not so much having a month saved. What you’re really trying to do is just last an entire month without touching that month’s paychecks. Look to your current employer first; do some overtime. Most of the time it’s people ridding themselves of clutter that makes the fastest progress.

Q: I was using your software before being surprised with a diagnosis of cancer in my 30s in 2007 (I’m cancer-free now, thanks). For individuals and families facing major financial crises, what advice would you give them for making budgeting work when there simply isn’t enough money available for expenses? Can YNAB still somehow work for them?
That is tough. First, make sure every dollar has a job. There are parts of the budget that can be done even if you’re in the red for long periods of time. No matter what you do, still record everything you spend. Maintain some awareness as much as possible. When people get in emergency mode, they lose control and awareness. The best way to fight back is to simply record what you’re spending. It’ll rein you in much quicker than not doing it at all.

Q: Your web site states that YNAB makes small adjustments to your overspending. How does it do this?
YNAB is like a virtual envelope system. The software wants you to maintain your savings but still have money for Christmas or your vacation you just borrowed for, so when you bring in money for the next month, you take that wad of money and drop that back into other envelopes that need replenishing. Every overage is automatically deducted from next month’s income.

Q: I do see you have a 60-day money back guarantee. Do you also have a free trial?
There are both. The trial is not advertised. People were getting the software and not understanding the why behind it. Weekly webinars are available with a live teacher to see. However, if readers want the free trial, they can go to http://www.youneedabudget.com/test-drive .

Q: It doesn’t appear that YNAB automatically downloads transactions from financial institutions on a regular basis. Is this feature coming?
Technically it’s not very difficult, but it is very expensive. That expense would either have to be passed on to the customer or we would have to find another revenue source to support it. Banks and credit cards want to keep us separate from what we’re actually spending, which is contrary to YNAB philosophy because it reduces awareness. The feature is planned, but we also want the customer to look at the methodology. As far as time lines, the new Mac/PC version is first priority. After that, we would look at implementing automatic downloads of transactions.

Q: I see that you have the guide in the form of a PDF file. I really like the idea of a paper book. How long before this is available?
I’m currently trying to see where the book is fitting the overall system. We are considering a paper book.

Q: Are there any new features in the works that you’d like to share?
Our next software version will be using Adobe Flex AIR technology. The methodology will be the same, but the design will be different. The interface will be easier to use. Reporting will be much more dynamic and flexible. We hope to have that in beta in May/June.

Q: Is there anything else that we haven’t covered that you would like to add?
If people don’t want to worry about the 60-day money-back guarantee or purchasing the software yet, I’d recommend they just sign up for the free budgeting course at http://www.youneedabudget.com/course. It’s not a sales pitch. In 10 days people walk through the methodology and get down to the nitty-gritty of budgeting, money in relationships, why cash flow is sometimes so stressful, how it can be made easier, talk about rule number four, and discuss why people don’t talk about budgeting.
The Downsides?

I haven’t found many, but they are:

* No integration with a handheld device. If you like to enter purchases on the fly on your smartphone, it can’t currently be done with YNAB. According to Jesse Mecham, YNAB wants to store the data online so people can get to their transactions and category balances through possibly an SMS approach, mobile web interface, and/or an iPhone application perhaps the middle of this year or later.
* Since the company has never taken any funding or loans, some major features like integration with a handheld device tend to take a bit longer to roll out.
* YNAB Pro is not Mac-compatible (the basic version is). However, a new Mac and PC version is expected to be available in the summer of 2009.

The Bottom Line

YNAB’s philosophy and software features combat many of the reasons bugets fail. It’s inexpensive, bug-free, and worth checking out. YNAB ($24.95) and YNAB Pro ($49.95) can both be downloaded from http://www.youneedabudget.com. The software comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. If you want to try it out first, a trial version is available at http://www.youneedabudget.com/test-drive. Both YNAB and YNAB Pro include a free copy of the PDF ebook “The YNAB Way.” The Pro version comes with bonus features, such as a car maintenance schedule, income tax
forecaster, and more. The developers are very responsive to customer feedback and will support you with visual and written materials that help you understand the psychology of successful budgeting.

Six Months

2009-02-07T00:06:00.003-05:00

" If you had only six months left to live, would you do what you are doing now?

You can only answer “yes” to this question if what you are doing matters to you. Doing what matters to you is a sure way to excellence since you will do it with all your heart. But you need the courage to be different and follow your heart. Do you have it? I hope your answer is yes. Life is too precious to be lived in mediocrity."

Life Hack is where I got this inspiring quotation.

Today I left my house and traveled with a purpose: Down to the Skate rink at Mel Lastman Square, with my snow pants and Hockey skates. I skated around for 50 minutes and had a wonderful time fulfilling my wish. I was really happy. Sometimes I almost fell but it wasn't as bad as my first trial on ice, last year.

I wonder what would happen if I tried to live for six months and acted as if each day was going to be my last? bah, depressing thought.

I've got too much baggage to be living on the 'six month plan' but really, if it improved my life, I think that six months would be a great period to spend...doing stuff.

In the past I've not finished the starting of any tasks or the finishing of any tasks with the period being six months. Uniquely, I have to say that I have lived the life of a habitual procrastinator. By contrast, I believe most of my friends and colleagues have given up their experimentation phase and 'settled down' into a mundane life.

Most of us who have been bred on a life of adventure and action have really little to gain from living within a reality where adventure is at the expense of everything else, including love, family, friends, and happiness.

I am so lucky to have made friends with people who are true adventure seekers.

I think most humans are in-built adventurers, but it just takes a leader to push the person into a cycle of adventuring.

Myself, I love adventures. I love adventures so much that I've had thousands of awesome adventures already. I've traveled to foreign countries, I have friends living on four continents, and I have journeyed within myself and out again. I'm just twenty three. I don't think many people have had the opportunity to have as much adventures as I've had. But probably many people have had totally different types of adventures from mine.

Some times adventures end up badly, and the result is a period of recuperating from injury and mistakes.

So: It would be irresponsible and self destructive to actively work through a 'six month' adventure while knowing that afterwards the next period of recuperation likely won't be of the victory party type.

Therefore I am back to where I was, wondering where the hell I'm going to drift on my boat in the sea of life.

I love metaphors, and figurative language. I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee making up pictures with words. So I have a great picture in my mind:

I've been running around swashbuckling on an adventure towards the islands and interesting lands of merriment and, having narrowly escaped the jaws of the sharks, the life I've been living has been a type of boat without a sail, stopping off at different islands trying to best refit my boat to sail. I suddenly beached on an island where I have enjoyed the hospitality of the land rather too much, and sea faring adventurer that I am, have begun to feel for a new adventure. I am wary, knowing that I have grown complacent on land, and, even though I am experienced as a mariner and warrior, have become very reluctant to embark on a new journey with undoubtedly many wars and battles to push through victoriously.

Rather than a lost sailor, like Odysseus, I need a path forwards and to use my knowledge to avoid the danger signs that Have littered the path I have come from.
Mainly, to be a six month adventurer, I would need a six month destination. The nature of life is that destinations are tangible or intangible, but journeys are growth and some people want growth to occur at a rate that is quick as possible.

I am taking my own time but maturity is a nasty word in these here parts and no one ever wants to be considered ' mature ' unless they know that they're mature for their own life reasons. Mostly this means money, wealth, power, status, family.

Well, Adventurers don't need to be mature, they just need to adventure. Some die on their adventures, while others mature on theirs. I know that I'm rambling. It is the point of an adventure to ramble on to some where while pursuing an over arching goal. Right now, sitting in my island, recuperating from multiple shipwrecks, I have lost sight of my goals. In Odysseus' journey, Homer presents the audience with many opportunities for Odysseus to get lost and forget his destination: Home.

Buddhists think that time flows backwards, and that everything has happened already, we are living life backwards through time. If I were able to look into the future and pick out my end point, and then come back here to the present, I would be able to live backwards in time into the future doing everything necessary to be where I will inevitably end. Seeing this trend work out the other way, if I continue to waste away, then I will turn in turn be wasted.

In contrast, if I don't have any end point, then what is the point of not wasting and thus doing? When I am able to put aside these existential questions and decide to live, actually sustain myself, then the question becomes obvious: There is a point when it is mandatory to become involved in society simply in order to eat and sleep in peace. Artfully, it is usually the forward seeing people (Prometheus) who understand that to open Pandora's Box is definitely in hind sight a mistake. But one who is able to take advantage of that opening is able to squeeze past fate and make his own fate.

The conclusion here is :

If you choose to assume that for the next six months, each moment counts towards life's timer then you have created a fate that makes those moments count. It's the squandering of those moments that are so awesome too. It is in the losing sight of the end point, where moments are wasted and the future becomes muddled in the quicksand of the past. Once woken, most people fall asleep again. I must wake up finally and pull the future from the magic hat of the present.

Phew

Grip

2009-02-04T16:23:00.001-05:00

To get a grip I've been encouraging myself to wrap the handle of reality with grip tape. This is a great time to mention that grip tape is usually sufficient to improve a hand grip, but without any technique then the tape is wasted.
So I'm left wondering what the hell to do about the technique which I'm leading my life. I'd been practicing life quite un-ergonomically for a long time. Certainly got a repetitive stress syndrome which would imply that my tendons and ligaments are wearing out. This is only toward the mind, though. Things going on have rehabilitated my mental wrists.

I am encouraging myself to practice more ergonomically correct methods of life. Too much pressure at the wrong angle, and you're bound to snap! So no more snapping

sad

2009-01-16T00:12:00.004-05:00

:(

sad

.

Financial

2009-01-14T01:01:00.001-05:00

It is my humble opinion that Israel's bombing and invasion campaign is an effort to spend spend spend! Into the new year with lots of shiny bombs and bullets, hoping to raise the fortunes of people caught up in the financial crisis.

I could be dead wrong

Supreme Commander

2009-01-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

I would like to promote this Lemur as supreme commander of the world. Any Objections? No? What about you George? No? Good. Everyone give a warm welcome to Supreme Commander Zorg.

World Government

2009-01-09T23:46:00.006-05:00

I have one thing to say about World Government -

At the current level of global intelligence, where people have been intentionally dumbed down, after globally being denied access to high quality education, and being fed a staple diet of ridiculous and false impressions about who they are, why they were born, and what their purpose in life is, I must say that there will be no acceptance for a world government.

On the other hand, if the power of a world economic collapse is so strong that world politicians can all be convinced to follow a path of least resistance and lead their people to be governed by a global authority, then there can really be "World Government", usually, this situation is called an empire, and commanded by the most powerful, ruthless, and bloodthirsty person on earth.

Are we at the onset of another "Clash of Barbarians"- wars among peaceful peoples, led by hateful and selfish groups who are able to demonise that which is unknown?

Do we have the courage to collectively acknowledge that each "regional authority" or Government has been globalised into oblivion when it comes to defending people from corporate interests? In other words, eroded for the purpose of selfish corporate and militant rape of land and people rather than the good health and happy life of human beings who live in those regions?

The power of money disappearing might yet be a force of unity, but only when we understand that there is no such thing as money. When lawyers become broke, and out of business, and when companies cannot sue governments, and when people who run governments are not the same as people who run corporations, then maybe that might convince people that they should join forces and run the world together. However, probably more likely, that is a crazy scenario and top level people would rather undergo wars and destabilising struggles to maintain their fragile hold over the world and continue their bizarre ego trip.

The way forward towards a well lived world is when people are able to quantify their lives outside the realm of money.

EUOUUUUCKKKHHHH I hate myself for having typed this out. But it's really true: We may, one day, find ourselves relying on human kindness and sense of duty rather than
money to pave our way forwards in time.

Back to the topic, there is no way, at the current level of average global intelligence, emotion, and indoctrination, from leaders to followers, that we are in any way ready to accept a global, responsible, system of authority.

Whatever the system, there are always ways to bend the rules and go around the regulations and the constitution. The times change, people change, we forget that life is not theoretical all the time and that people are always able to break their programming, at one time or another.

Enabling systems in half the world where people are encouraged to bend rules, but believe that they are following theories. Then maintaining faulty systems in the other half of the world, where even the people who make the rules bend the rules, has led to an irreconcilable situation.

Our current world may be a mere rebound of global powers towards showing the world who's boss through a monetary beating. Rather than a global military dictatorship, which may come soon, anyway.

For a world government to operate fairly, there must not be any money involved. Motivation should come instead, in the form of pleasure.

(These are my musings)

I HATE REALITY!!

In reality, there is magic, this magic is called money. With money, some people can be made to do anything. Some people kill for money, rob for money, and steal for money, thinking that money will give them the magical power of money. However, after a while, they eventually realise that magic need a wand. This wand is authority and power. If there is no trained wizard able to wield this wand of power then effectively, there is no more magic. There is money but no magic.

_Dr. Oats

Clever Bankers

2009-01-09T23:28:00.003-05:00

I just read something wonderful in this analysis about why the global economy is in its current state.

Voila!

"To put it in crude terms, for much of the past decade, millions of Chinese slaved away on near subsistence wages and still managed to save, both as a nation (China swanks £1,400bn in foreign exchange reserves) and as individuals. And to a large extent they were working to improve our living standards, because they made more and more of the stuff we wanted at cheaper and cheaper prices - and clever bankers took their savings and lent the cash to us, so that we could buy the houses we cherished, the cars we desired, the flat-screen TVs.
This imbalance - between the savings of China, India, Japan and Saudi and our indebtedness, between their massive trade surpluses and our deficits - was never sustainable. At some point, the Chinese were bound to say, “we’d like some of the cake now please, which means you’ll have to have a bit less”.
Tragically, they toiled for our prosperity – or we lived high on the hog while they fattened the pigs for us – for too long. Which is partly why the return to equilibrium, to a more balanced global economy, is happening in a horribly painful way that's impoverishing millions of people.
For me, therefore, the most important event of the past week was the chastising of the US Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, by Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the Chinese central bank. Zhou said that "over-consumption and a high reliance on credit is the cause of the US financial crisis" and "as the largest and most important economy in the world, the US should take the initiative to adjust its policies, raise its savings ratio appropriately and reduce its trade and fiscal deficits."
This seemed a pretty unambiguous statement by the Chinese that they're no longer prepared to finance the spendthrift ways of the US and UK: they don't want to lend more and they want to be confident that what they have lent won't disappear in a puff of bad debts and inflation.
So the big question is how much debt will"
Robert Peston - BBC's Business Editor

The rest is in this pdf file

I hope you enjoy reading it.

Are we a bunch of passive citizens?

2009-01-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that the government has been hijacked. Can you dig it?

Friday, October 14, 2005
Passive citizenship
People who are unhappy with the excessive power of government, centralized at both national and local levels, sometimes ask in exasperation “who is promoting this illiberal, anti-democratic system?”

The answer is, of course, we the people. Or, perhaps more precisely, we the voters.

Anyone who has ever stated that the government or the council should do such and such is promoting the system.

Anyone who has ever said that individual people cannot be expected to take the right decision on, say, health or education is promoting the system.

Anyone who has decided that he or she cannot be bothered to take an interest in what is going on with the defence of this country or to try to understand what powers have gone from the British parliament or the British courts to the European Commission , the Council of Ministers or the ECJ is promoting the system.

Democracy, as my colleague Richard North is wont to say, is not a spectator sport. If you do not become interested in politics, politics will become interested in you.

The most effective way for politics and politicians to become interested in you is by creating ersatz political structures that appear to be “of the people, by the people and for the people” but are, in reality, controlled by the state and its minions. This is called creating a civil society and the first successful practitioners, unsurprisingly, were Lenin’s Bolsheviks when they came to power.

Needless to say, Hizonner the Mayor, who is convinced that democracy in London is best served by him acquiring more and more power without any checks or balances, is a great believer in this process.

A seminar is being run today in the Great Glass Egg, home of the Greater London Authority and of the ever more powerful Mayor, on “Active citizenship”. There is only one problem with that idea. People who come to a seminar to be told what to do in order to be active citizens are not actually practising that. They are passive and obedient recipients of instructions and ideas about politics and democracy.

In fact, what they are becoming involved in is passive citizenship, which seems to be our fate in this country for some time to come.
Posted by OneLondon at 2:08 PM

Welcome Back!

2009-01-05T11:00:00.002-05:00

Hello world!

I just came back from a huuuge trip! I had ZERO plane troubles and ZERO luggage issues. Throw that in with plenty of exercise, good food, fun in the sun, and no trouble with the law. Add a pinch of moral rectitude and personal discipline. Mix that in with a successful non-smoking lifestyle, and you get a terrific holiday! Makes for a great portion of family bonding and maintaining friendships with cousins and relatives.

I am back and 2009 feels like it's begging to be a good year: I choose to make it a good year, and I'm going to have fun during it, and I'll be happy when it's over.

There is a small issue of career, education, and money. Always something to keep us on our toes eh!

Quick Survey:
Canada
Politically: Down
Economically: Down
Strategically: Up
Militarily: Down
Health: Up

Now 2/5 ain't bad!

I predict for 2009 that Canada is going to be a hilarious place full of political upheaval,( what with the parliament forced to close for a 'cooling down' period and now coming back for a running start in opposition of the government)...

Stay tuned for allegations of corruption, and a delicious slice of nepotism!!!! Gotta love it!

Hope

Dr Oats.

Xanne's Perspective

2008-12-10T04:30:00.002-05:00

Check out this blog:

Bubbly Elucidations
from a memorable Friday, September 19, 2008

"So now which way does the puzzle play. Which way does the dial turn and send me sailing off...in new directions. No twist of your imagination. No twist of mine. Sail straight in guidelines.. don't leave the parameters. You can never get back in.
Go back ? You might ask. And why would I want to do that ? You may not. But those are doors you can't afford to close. And I. Am the story teller. So sit back because you still can and listen to my words. they'll dog you down the valley floor as you sail your ship past swaying seas, but never on them. Non. Watch those mountains float past your window and be thankful they aren't yours to climb. Anymore.
Were they once ? You want to ask, but that is not mine to tell you. It is not yours to know, if you don't already.
New clouds sprinkle the sky with their thoughts. One at a time, popping, they flicker like candles in the wind. But they never go out. Instead they build, with each gust of a breeze they grow stronger and more omniscient until you think they might pop on your ship. But they wait. Because this is not your weather to endure, better things will come to you and like the mountains they are not yours.
There is no sun on your horizon. Bleak shadows encroach on your ship. But fear doesn't strike you because there isn't anything to fear. You believe, like the others, that this too isn't your battle to wage.
You are wrong.
You sit with a smile, one leg bent, your knee to the sky. your foot falling on deaf ground. No one is here to whisper your name, to pull you back from the depths of hell that so certainly you will face. No one is here because you left them all behind. You stepped away from the only ones who loved you and now you will suffer this alone. No mountain was yours to climb, no storm yours to endure, because what comes to you now is far worse than any nightmare you might face in your dreams. But this is no dream and I am just the storyteller. This is where we part.
This, is where I bid you farewell. "

I'm off to The UAE

2008-12-04T03:06:00.001-05:00

A new Author

2008-12-04T00:03:00.002-05:00

This is great news ! A new internet llama will be joining the team! He has been sent an invitation and has shown excellent writing skills. I hope he will be a great counterpoint to what MonoLoco and I contribute.

Look out for some posts by the new author/contributor.

This may be premature, but here goes nothing

"Yo If you Fucked up, put your cups up!"

How to Deal with Collection Agencies

2008-12-03T20:49:00.004-05:00

I stumbled on this website, http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-Collection-Agencies and should any of you one day find yourselves dealing with collection agencies, here's a super informative guideline. Of course, it's applicable in the U.S. but the tactics maybe similar here. Hopefully no one has to deal with this situation.

Here's a sample:

Whether it's because of illness, unemployment, or unexpected financial disasters, you might someday have to deal with a collection agency. This won't tell you how to avoid paying off your old debts; it will tell you how to deal with the phone calls in a way that you and the collection agency representative will both be satisfied.

This video deals with Canada

Tips
You must keep a calm, reasonable and well-modulated tone of voice. Any yelling, name-calling or other verbal tactics will erode the image you're working to project.
If they speak to you in any way that you find objectionable, give them one warning, as mentioned in your opening statement. The second time, ask to speak to their supervisor. When you're connected, start again from step one.
Write down everything--the date and time of the call, data on the rep calling you, what they want, what you're offering, etc.
Many times the names of the collectors are not their real ones. One way to figure it out is to send the signature receipt letter addressed only to that one person. If they sign back with their signature on the letter, they must be that person (otherwise it becomes a federal offense of mail fraud).
Sometimes you just can't win, they won't listen to reason or acknowledge that you legally are not obligated to the debt. In this case, establish a long paper trail indicating that they did not wish to collect on the debt in good faith. When they file your collection with the credit agencies, mail copies of your paper trail to all three, with documentation that they violated the Fair Debt Collection Act and demand removal of the claim from your credit report immediately.
Be very careful about making any payments if the debt is past the statute of limitations or about to be since that may restart the clock and you may then owe the full amount even if the collector told you that you would only have to pay a small amount and then they would leave you alone.

[edit]Warnings
Remember, your goal is to take, and keep, control of the conversation so that you can both get what you want. By losing your temper, sounding panicked, or whining, you are giving control of the phone call back to them.

[edit]Things You'll Need
A complete script, as described in step one
Paper and pen by your telephone (or in your pocket, in case of a cell phone)
A telephone with a recording device. Radio Shack has some good options.

Sack The Sucker

2008-12-02T06:41:00.005-05:00

Fire Stephen Harper Now! Support the coalition government. (link to the facebook group)

We want Canadians to phone their Liberal, NDP or Bloc Members of Parliament to voice their support for the emerging Coalition Government seeking to replace the Minority Conservative Government.

Stephen Harper is completely out of touch with Canadians and the global economic and environmental crisis. The Conservative Government should be fired now.

In the United States we watched Americans say "YES WE CAN" and in Canada Stephen Harper is saying "NO WE CAN'T." His only response to the situation has been to attack democracy itself!

You have the power to make the change. Phone or e-mail your MP right now and tell them you support their efforts to fire Stephen Harper and the Conservative Government.

It's only two click away to find your MP.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx

After I clicked the link and typed my Postal Code, I sent this e-mail to my MP. It was very gratifying and I hope she receives it! I encourage everyone to do the same.

Hello Martha,

I live in your constituency in Willowdale and I voted for you. I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that I am in support of a coalition government because I do not support Stephen Harper since he has not proven to me that he is capable of running the country and because he has a dismal environmental record. Furthermore, I do not appreciate his efforts to dismantle our parliament and I do not want to see a weak Canada governed by a megalomaniac.

I think that it took great courage and strength to create this coalition and I support it for the purpose of ousting Stephen Harper. I do not believe he is his own man. The rest of the world will look upon this action as the first sign of Canadians behaving 'Sensibly' in a very long time.

I hope that you convey my desire and my family's, to your party.

Thank you very much,

Excrement Continued

2008-11-24T17:21:00.008-05:00

Earlier, I published an excellent article "Excrement"

Excrement

While I'd love to write a large entry today, I think I'll stick with Medium.

There's much to be said about taking the Middle Path: The Straight Path: Not the Right or Left Path: The Hidden Path: The Hard Path: The Solitary Path: The Moral Path: The Drawing of Courage Path: Thrice Is a Charm Path: Gibberish Path: The Outlier Path: The Statistical Anomaly Path: Potential Path: Pave Your Own Path: My Path: Rough Path: Eerie Path: zero path: Jungle Path: Desert Path: Forest Path: City Path: Town Path: Village Path: Street Path: Mind Path: Leader's Path: Follower's Path: Educator's Path: Artist's Path: Warrior's Path: Rogue's Path: Noble Path: Scoundrel's Path: Beggar's Path: Jester's Path: Usurper's Path: King's Path.
Since I define all of these paths to each other... let's work with the premise that all of these paths have something in common: The Middle Path.

To be Continued....

This article proved to be controversial because it was mentioned to me that there are some paths that shouldn't be equated. That somehow at the middle of my thought processes, my resolve gave up within me, and began to write gibberish into the comparison.

I beg to differ. My head spins when I try to explain things with simplicity, but I'll try anyway. There is something in common: The Middle Path (tMp for short).

tMp is nothingness, emptiness, and their absolute opposite, fullness and infinity. There are few people that have the power to achieve their human potentials. That is because they are constrained from that by many blockades, including time, chance, religion, geography, other people, and finally, their own selves and minds.

Within this writing are patterns of existentialist thinking, based on choosing a common denominator, that we are all human animals living within the world. What real differences we have are, upon further examination, not very large.

Generally speaking, all those characters that I mentioned in part 1are very similar to each other: They are humans, with roles with a relation to other humans. They are either sane or insane, work within boundaries of society or outside them, succeed within given pathways or make their own, and finally, have lived full lives or empty lives, and have died.

What purpose do people fill?

The Middle Path is a simple definition of life. Taken as a collective, humanity has chosen to represent itself as a form of lasting ideas. Ideas have the power to move people into action or inaction, and many of them evolve and reproduce, somtimes transforming, often times having spawned argument and dissent, or peace and harmony.

Personal wisdom is different, it requires independent thinking. Thorough analysis shows the difficulty of defining "independent thinking" but rarely is it more than the ability to ask questions, receive answers, and make personal conclusions of the merit of choosing this or that path.

Whether I am a rogue or a knight, if I reached there through the middle path, by choice and necessity, then there are functional differences in my role, but they both achieve similar objectives: Illuminating my potential.

Thus we are all human animals. While the quality of our stool differs based on our circumstances, on the other hand, I believe that our brains are simply playing a game: Behaviour and Reward, and Sleep.

Occasionally, we can get a glimpse into the real "Real" world.

To me the real "Real" world is fraught with mystery, unknown equations, and excrement, all flowing continually in time, along the middle path, until the end.

to be continued...

I love my country, but why is it free?

2008-11-22T13:58:00.009-05:00

Good Everything to Everyone,

I have to say, I am very lucky, living here in the Free World! I love my country.

Canada..Free...

From what exactly?

Some people advocate that government is a root source of people's problems. Some advocate that it's the Corporations that are the root. But I advocate that there is no ROOT cause for inequality, it is a general state of the world, as we KNOW it today. [Sadly, I presume that the majority of our population (our planet's) is vastly undermined by a belief that things have ALWAYS been this way. They are oppressed by their own minds, (and lack of education, fear, health, and power) into thinking that nothing can ever change, because people are evil inherently, and that there will always be one way, or another, that seems to oppress and disenfranchise the many for the sake of the few, because everything is constantly in flux, and it is the nature of life, where the big fish swallows the small in a never ending cycle up to infinity, and beyond, into the end of time, where the small fish are eradicated in droves only to repopulate their numbers to further feed the big fish, helping it get stronger.

(Most people believe that the end of the world will be predicated by a period of world peace and harmony. Isn't it paradoxical for us to believe that if we achieve world peace, then our reward will be that the universe explodes and we are sent to our deaths?)

Isn't it then NO WONDER that the law of the jungle still applies, and that people find their place in the natural order of the human food chain? Aren't those predators then cannibals by association? They are actively in the process of eating their fellow human co-inhabitant (we are the same species!) of the world.

In the classic tale of horrendousness, where we end up blaming a victim for being there to be raped by mentally handicapped abusers, we can match that idiocy simply by saying that it is our fault that we are human, and then that people are naturally inclined to be bad and that "Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely". Thus further scaring the honest man into thinking that he would rather save himself than to risk "corrupting" himself for the sake of the nameless and faceless multitudes of the planet.

On the other hand, In my opinion, the world of governments can be boiled down to a few things, four of which are:

Legitimacy, Corruption, Paranoia, and Insecurity.

Name any country in the world, and I'll be damned if I can't find that one or more of these factors continue to influence the life and livelihood of multitudes of people.

In fact, our world is one huge example of Illegitimate, Corrupt, Paranoid, and Insecure collectives, all trying their very best to maintain their hold on people's imaginations, to lead them to a future where everyone can forget the past, and live together peacefully. By this I mean that if you, as a victim, let rapists go around believing and making other victims believe that it was okay that they went around raping people, because it was for a good cause, then that is what it means for everyone to forget about the past. Now that's a paradox, because it is necessary for the rapist to be rehabilitated, possibly incarcerated, and made to believe that what he or she did was wrong, before anyone will be able to "forget" or "forgive" them. [edit:this paragraph and much of the article are very confusing, but continue reading.]

My point is:

If we extrapolate that world peace is based on the concept that all the people of the world who have been victimized. Who, possibly, have silently been getting stronger, can "FORGET" the traumas of the past. Without gaining vengeance, then that would mean that an incredibly large sphere of influence would have to be createdm, and maintained for generations, by leaders, who are groups of people around the world who have a hold on power and legitimacy, who are not corrupt nor paranoid, and who are perfectly secure with themselves and their co-inhabitants. So that with humility they can say "SORRY THAT WE DID YOU WRONG. WE SHALL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN."

Until that moment comes, where one collective can admit to its members that in fact it is a composition of humans. That it was tempted by immature desires and selfish motivations, to deceive the members of that population, into behaving badly. Thus tarnishing their own reputations as individuals and a collective. And to convince all of those individuals to feel sorry and be sorry, to another collective. Who by the time the apology has arrived, are so tired of fighting, that they will accept the apology, as a quiet acknowledgement of the first collective's superiority. In a very negative connotation, because there are very few ways to have a superior collective. Mainly, that people are convinced or forced to work for you and maintain aspects of their mental abilities to be directed towards ambitious projects. Superiority in Medicine, Arts, Science, Technology, Economy, and Martial Arts, still do not address the malaise of a collective: Happiness. Happy people don't go around killing people for fun or profit.)

Smoking? Non-Smoking, thank you.

2008-11-21T06:29:00.002-05:00

I have nothing to add:

Strength Beyond Strength!

I haven't written anything for more than a week because I have been living in "trainspotting" like conditions in my 100% successful transition from a chainsmoking heavy drinking party lifestyle to a more down to earth, non-smoking, socially acceptable HU-MAN.

I HAVE THE POWER!!!

Invisibility Cloak

2008-11-11T03:04:00.003-05:00

Well This was a surprising bit of Tech info that I thought I would have known about!
There has been a development of fabric that is actually considered "Invisibility-ish" In property: I mean that this wonderful Japanese guy Susumi Tachi invented a cloak with a processor made of "bead like materials" that can display what is behind one-self. Isn't that amazing!

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3791795.stm

But here's the next step:

Scientists have used their creativity to apply physics of light to materials and nano-technology to come up with a theoretical set of properties that can be applied to man-made materials for the purposes of bending light! An Invisibiliy Cloak that is theoretically possible?!! NO WAY!!

Here is how it works. We start by transforming space in a desired manner. To achieve invisibility, for example, we would like to push space outward creating a nice concealment volume, as in the animation above. Now, we can't actually transform space, but in Maxwell's equations the material properties enter in such a way that we can achieve the same effect by transforming the material properties. We thus replace the space outside the concealment volume by a material--a cloak--in which light rays travel the exact same paths they would have travelled in the warped space. When the dust has settled, we arrive at a set of material properties. The resulting material parameters for our invisibility cloak will be complicated, of course, but will be fully consistent with the known laws of physics.

source:http://people.ee.duke.edu/~drsmith/cloaking.html

Isn't that Absolutely Marvelous!!?

Mahmoud!

2008-11-06T20:13:00.002-05:00

Check out this BBC ripoff!!!:
***********************************************************

Iranian leader welcomes Obama win

President Ahmadinejad said opportunities were 'transient'

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has offered his congratulations to Barack Obama on his presidential win.

It is the first official message of goodwill presented to an American leader by the Islamic Republic.

In a key change to US foreign policy, Mr Obama has offered to open unconditional dialogue with Iran about its nuclear programme.

Mr Ahmadinejad called for the new US president to implement a foreign policy of "non-interference".

In a message carried on official news agency Irna, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "I congratulate you on being able to attract the majority of votes of the participants of the election."

The great nation of Iran welcomes basic and fair changes in US policies and conducts, especially in the region

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iranian President

"As you know the opportunities provided by the Almighty God, which can be used for elevation of nations, or God forbid, for their collapse, are transient," the message continued.

"I hope you will prefer real public interests and justice to the never-ending demands of a selfish minority and seize the opportunity to serve people so that you will be remembered with high esteem," it said, according to the English language website of Irna.

Justice and respect

Mr Ahmadinejad said Americans expected the government to "rectify the critical situation facing the US, restore lost reputation as well as their hope and spirit, fully respect human rights and strengthen family foundations".

He continued: "Other nations also expect war-oriented policies, occupation, bullying, contempt of nations and imposing discriminatory policies on them to be replaced by the ones advocating justice, respect for human rights, friendship and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.

"They also want US intervention to be limited to its [own] borders, especially in the Middle East. It is highly expected to reverse the unfair attitude towards restoring the rights of the Palestinians, Iraqis and Afghans.

"The great nation of Iran welcomes basic and fair changes in US policies and conducts, especially in the region," President Ahmadinejad said.

Diplomatic stand-off

Formal contacts between the US and Iran are very rare, though the two countries held three rounds of talks in 2007 on the subject of security in Iraq.

The two nations have not had diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the taking of hostages at the US embassy in Tehran for 444 days.

The country was a member of what President George W Bush called the "axis of evil", while the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini described the US as the "Great Satan".

Dialogue with Iran has been criticised by US ally Israel, with Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni calling on Mr Obama not to talk to Iran. She said such dialogue could project weakness.

Mr Ahmadinejad has made a series of blistering verbal attacks against Israel, calling for an end to the Israeli state, and he has described the holocaust as a "myth".

Obama's World Tour

2008-11-06T18:39:00.006-05:00

President Obama!

2008-11-04T23:23:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to the American People!

I am ecstatic beyond belief and totally relieved that my belief in the system of the "American Dream" With a CAPITAL D! IS TOTALLY AND ULTIMATELY RATIFIED WITH OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY!

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

Matrix Eleven

2008-11-04T13:25:00.004-05:00

Here You Guys GO!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=p7OHMuRsMOrUEVjreC4VkYw

This Matrix Eleven Refers to the Eleven Careers that I've Dissected from the information on JOBFUTURES.CA Thanks to my O.T. Marose! She's awesome. Great job everyone.

Obama Dance Off vs Mccain

2008-11-03T13:22:00.001-05:00

This video hilariously depicts Obama and Mccain DANCING! Excellent Video Editing!

Check it out!

www.Iwannadownload.com

2008-11-02T06:56:00.006-05:00

YummY!

This is an awesome Canadian P2P PAID service! I am getting an awesome link to 0day files here for free by just writing something positive: I LOVE THE MOVIES THEY HAVE EVERYTHING!

I don't have to download the hi-res versions, but I'd prefer to instead of streaming and killing bandwidth limits, which are new to Rogers since the summer I think, or last summer.

http://www.iwannadownload.com

Halloween!

2008-10-31T08:53:00.004-04:00

Today is going to be a wonderful day! 15 degrees and sunny. Quite the difference from winter-like conditions a few days ago. Haha that's good, but I still don't have a costume. I don't feel like going out at ALL! Does that mean I'm an old fart? No maybe it means that I want to spend some precious moments with my loved ones. I've invited my girlfriend over to help me greet the children coming at the door saying "Trick or Treat!"

I wonder how my cat is going to react to all the people coming in and out! Ha ha ha.

This Halloween, like last, my mom prepared a basket of "Ghouls" to house the candies. Lucky kids haha

I am going to try and convince her not to put any Mars Bars inside them, because they contain milk powder. I for one will not have kidney stones on my conscience. Those things suck. And I don't want any myself. It takes a long time for the effects of melamine poisoning to take place. There's been reports of an epidemic in children's kidney stones in the U.S.A.

Beware Candy with Milk Powder!!

2008-10-30T04:03:00.004-04:00

This is very dangerous, potential melamine in our food stream!! Today they found EGGS with melaminejust DON'T EAT CANDY!!!

Melamine is an organic base and a trimer of cyanamide, with a 1,3,5-triazine skeleton. Like cyanamide, it contains 66% nitrogen by mass and, if mixed with resins, has fire retardant properties due to its release of nitrogen gas when burned or charred, and has several other industrial uses. Melamine is also a metabolite of cyromazine, a pesticide. It is formed in the body of mammals who have ingested cyromazine.[2] It has been reported that cyromazine can also be converted to melamine in plants.[3][4]
Melamine combines with cyanuric acid to form melamine cyanurate, which has been implicated in the Chinese protein export contaminations.

Move over,Freddy!

2008-10-29T23:04:00.003-04:00

There's no chance in HELL that I'm going to go trick or treating if it's snowing this halloween, I say: Hello Winter!! Good-bye Outdoor Costume Parade!

Enjoy the collage of winter's first moments touching down on Toronto...is it here to stay or is this just an anomaly of Global Weirding. I think it's up in the air baby!

VolksWagon )HEART( Porsche

2008-10-29T05:15:00.001-04:00

Due to take-over bid by Porsche, VW was more valuable than Exxon yesterday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2008/10/hedge_funds_and_vw_what_a_pile.html

All New "How Sick is This" Segment

2008-10-29T03:59:00.010-04:00

How Sick is This?

A Frenchman Leaves a Train After delaying it for Two Hours Because He is:

A) Getting his Hand Stuck in Toilet's Vacuum Suction?
B) Trying to undo the Toilet getting Stuck on his Hand?
C) Desperate not to lose his phone in a High-Tech Loo?
D) All of the Above?

The Answer: (D: All of the Above.)

To Neena

2008-10-29T03:42:00.001-04:00

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcbbwk5w_16gg722xgt

Hope that your labels work!!

Birthday Partay!

2008-10-28T18:36:00.004-04:00

Here is what Andy Pool Hall looks like when you know 90% of the people there!! I had a great time, and Happy Birthday to Sharmarke!! Enjoy the pictures, and to view the album directly, just go here: picasaweb.com/delandelan

BP has seen its latest quarterly profits more than double, buoyed by record high oil prices.

2008-10-28T05:00:00.014-04:00

Oil prices hit an all-time high of $147 a barrel in July, but have since fallen back sharply to about $62 this week.
Reporting its results for the three months from July to September, BP's replacement cost profit totalled $10bn (£6.4bn), up 148% from a year earlier.

BP said high prices had "obviously helped our absolute result", despite the recent sharp fall.BP chief executive Tony Hayward said that oil prices could decline further as the world enters a recession."I believe that BP is well-positioned to cope with such volatility," he said."We think the current turmoil may in fact create opportunities for us and we will look at those very closely." source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7694508.stm

I take issue with these bastards who go around raping countries with the full approval of their governments, allowing them to be mercenary pirates. The most astounding issue is that de-regulated inflation of the oil prices became THE issue since 2001.
What can make a company accountable to any government in this post 9-11 post GulfWarII era?

Well the Mechanisms are in place, now apply them! Try these bastards on the platform of :
Economic Terrorism!

But you'll never see that happening. The heads of these companies and the boards are filled with friends of government ministers and kick-back taking government-leaders and policy-makers. (So what if I don't have the right facts to back me up?
Well, luckily the precedents are there: Who lies to the public more: Corporations or Politicians? And where do we really need to draw the line? In 2004 Shell had been involved in a Scandal involving making up completely FICTIONAL Oil Reserves Numbers that 2-3 years after this report about Crude Oil Price/Barrel was published in 2002, has become a reality of inflated sky-rocketing gas prices. Wikipedia on Oil Reserves Estimates

Meanwhile, in other rape news:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7675234.stm
Cuba claims massive oil reserves
Cuba currently produces 60,000 barrels of oil a day

The state-owned Cuban oil company says the country may have more than 20bn barrels of oil in its offshore fields - more than double the previous estimate.Now tell me, isn't this just an open invitation to foreign investors (read Rich Unscrupulous Bastards) looking to re-invest the money they just took out of (Developing Nations) and place it in Cuba's hands? I don't forsee a war soon, but seriously Cubans? Do you HAVE to proclaim your OIL WEALTH NOW? What were you waiting for?

NOW THAT CASTRO IS GONE IT'S TIME TO PARTY IN A CUM-GUZZLING CAPITALIST WAY THAT ONLY RAUL KNOWS HOW??!

*HEY AMERICANT'S COME AND GET IT!! IT'S TRICK OR TREAT BABY! OH YEAH! HALLOWEEN'S COME EARLY! NOW YOU HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR THE OIL INDUSTRY, I MEAN, OIL MERCENARIES, I MEAN, AMERICAN ARMY, TO GET OUT OF THE IRAQ FIASCO AND ALMOST GUARANTEE THAT THE DEMOCRATS MAKE AMAZING HEADWAY IN THE REALM OF GEO-POLITICS! OBAMA! OBAMA! COME ON OV.....*
-Famous 'fictional' last words of Raul Castro after being filmed showering in the first extracted barrel of newly-found Deep Sea Oil

*TRANSMISSION CUT DUE TO EARLY REGIME-CHANGE IN CUBA

T-Shirt Company

2008-10-24T15:15:00.010-04:00

We are all upset. But why is this funny? Snorgtees.com has made me smile.

I think it's because it's a talking jug of milk and a talking cow.

Then I think it's because the cow has horns and is a bull.

Then realize, that bulls don't have udders, but cows don't have bulls-horns.

And Cows can't really be fathers, can they?

Aha. This picture is still very funny!

What do you think? React Now, Leave a comment, or just rate this post!

The Music of the Stars

2008-10-24T02:33:00.004-04:00

Well I found out that there's a new science developing:

Deciphering the stars. Apparently each star has its own frequency. CakeWalk you're going to love the noise of these stars.

Our sun's music rocks too!

Visit this bbc webpage, describing the 'music' of the stars!! Remember to Click on each audio file.

Do try and listen to the sound of the universe! Isn't it awesome!?!?!?!??! My life just took an awe struck turn. In other news: I hope that I've got you on the edge of your seats for my upcoming article "Excrement - Part 2"

-Dr. Oats.

Segueway

2008-10-24T01:25:00.005-04:00

There is a suspicion that the following is pure fiction: "Laid as eggs by the shrill, nightmarish "Metal Bird", of course, then marketed and sold by a ghoulish, bowler-doffed transvestite. And that ghoulish, bowler-doffed transvestite's name was Henry Ford." - Boing Boing Blogs

Excrement

2008-10-23T16:35:00.003-04:00

While I'd love to write a large entry today, I think I'll stick with Medium.

There's much to be said about taking the Middle Path: The Straight Path: Not the Right or Left Path: The Hidden Path: The Hard Path: The Solitary Path: The Moral Path: The Drawing of Courage Path: Thrice Is a Charm Path: Gibberish Path: The Outlier Path: The Statistical Anomaly Path: Potential Path: Pave Your Own Path: My Path: Rough Path: Eerie Path: zero path: Jungle Path: Desert Path: Forest Path: City Path: Town Path: Village Path: Street Path: Mind Path: Leader's Path: Follower's Path: Educator's Path: Artist's Path: Warrior's Path: Rogue's Path: Noble Path: Scoundrel's Path: Beggar's Path: Jester's Path: Usurper's Path: King's Path.

Since I define all of these paths to each other... let's work with the premise that all of these paths have something in common: The Middle Path.

To be Continued...

AyrabD

2008-10-21T17:06:00.004-04:00

"I've been in this way and I can't stop! Hands on the ball and I won't drop! I'm in 'cause I want to, not 'cause I got to!...

...So I spit about it, whatever I feel about it!"

Xzibit - Multiply

That song was dedicated to MonoLoco's awesome 0day information (which means basically, at the time of release, it is on the internet, and then on the site) ! Thanks for posting! Hope to keep seeing your posts!

If anyone has heard this song, they would agree...it's absolutely addictive! The beat is a right Head-Banger! Even Amelia, my little Bengal Tigress Kitty Cat likes to listen to this song.. You should see her move her head to the beat as she licks her arm clean. I hope you enjoy the new play-list that I added to my Video Log. I know what you're thinking : But you're not there! I know! I know! It's about being chillin..... so I want to raise an awareness of this blog.. sink a few more ships... and hopefully get a fan-base checking this blog every day as part of their daily routine.

I will dedicate lyrics from songs that I like, to each new person who "becomes" a contributor, so consider this: An Invitation to my Gangster Nation.

Oh, and please! Don't be shy! If you feel like showing your support for Internet Llamas, then go ahead and click "Follow This Blog" on the sidebar over there on the right column.

Peace!

-Dr. Oats

Adam West for President!

2008-10-20T23:49:00.003-04:00

Check this LA times article about old school Batman TV show where Adam West debates the Penguin in what seems like an eerie version of this year's presidential debates.

Who knew the penguin was a republican?

Stolen Article

2008-10-20T17:07:00.001-04:00

This link is hilarious !

I want a mobile phone watch too!

What Motivates me?

2008-10-20T16:53:00.002-04:00

Well I believe today is my thirteenth day on the blogging circuit. My friend asked me : "What motivates me?"

I think that the most empowering thing I ever realised was this: "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword."

I believe that this is an insufficient answer, but this blog, or journal, whatever you call it, is for consumption!

What ever I post here, I envisage thousands of people reading it and sharing whatever joys, sorrows, horrors, and amusements that it has to offer.

I feel strongly about sharing fun or cool information, and I feel greatly satisfied by the time I click "Publish Post" and share it with everyone.

As some people say : "Sharing is Caring"

Dr. Oats

Job Search Selection Matrix

2008-10-20T13:44:00.006-04:00

Overview- Click the links and be amazed

This matrix took me one hour exactly. Here I defined the options given in www.jobfutures.ca

I copied and pasted all the options, then created a Yes No Maybe Matrix (Sheet 1).

Then I Filtered the results to show only Yes (Sheet 2)

Thanks to my O.T. Marose, I got it done by myself within an hour

Sheet 1

Sheet2

*CLAP CLAP CLAP*

Frames

2008-10-19T04:31:00.002-04:00

77 frames:

When a politician decides to serve his country, in a leadership position, what he is really doing is putting himself under a voluntary "deep cover" project within the 'other' that he is trying to gain confidence from.

There is no such thing as the "American People" There are only numbers. Whoever gets to play the part of 'Number One' in the great theatre that is politics, is simply pandering to the modern tastes of the cyber punk crowd.

What a toothless bunch of cyber punks we've turned out to be!

Frames

If I chose to wrench my life out of its comfy living style, would I do it for curiosity? I wonder if any president has ever said "I wonder if they'll let me be president next year?

President of what exactly? Isn't there necessarily a 'class' that is being 'administered'

I was class president. I was nominated in eighth grade while I was napping on my table. I was number 3 in my class..naturally smart, well-read, no effort needed. Number 2 was a rote-memorizer, and Number 1 was a girl called Layal, who sometimes switched places with Number 2.

The real reason that I was constantly number 3 was because I broke the code of my Finals: There's really no pressure.. If a teacher likes you, she's going to pass you! I became framed from then: If I don't want to run through these loops: Then the system can go to hell! They don't have such a thing as a beating stick anymore! So for my final exams, I would barely study for my Arabic classes..I'd do the memorization, finish the grammar section, and then cruise past the poetry....only to come to the giant section called Composition.

Now here's where I floundered, because A: the questions were so banal and barely understandable to me and, B: There was the question of: I've never BEEN in the situation they're asking me to write about.

For example, "Write about the beauty of the park while on a picnic with your family"

Now this question is so difficult to answer when you're a young renaissance man. Well: The beauty of the park while I'm on a picnic with my family?

Well. Firstly, you've got to understand that the question that needs to be answered is about something that I've never experienced, until now: Well I didn't have the ability to put up a hyperlink to a photoalbum that I spent time picturing, and appreciating the wonderful qualities of: Because as a kid, I didn't think of descriptions as a form of coded imagery.

That was garbage! I thought of descriptions as a method of story telling, and that was it: I didn't have the vocabulary to discuss the playing of light and sound on the earth, and the symmetrical beauty of the plants, the frolicking laissez-faire attitudes of the ducks on their final practice run down a stretch of river before, finally, launching into their journey south.

The sad thing is that the English department was reticent in giving equally difficult assignments..Because then I'd be able to breeze through the arabic portion. You see I relied heavily on English in order to translate straight into AraBIC. But during the Final Exam, you see, I decided to be cool. One day I said "Fuck it" during a Mid term, and I just left the room 40 minutes early.

The teacher said "you could've written anything and your mark would have been way higher!"

The next period of examinations was the Final exam. Then I decided to write a few empty sentences just to secure a 70...And I did it! It was so simple to do!

But I was still always 3rd.

And In my capacity for student government, I managed to organize the entire 3 sets of classes, negotiated between the head teachers of all the disciplines, and boldly suggested that the classes go on a giant field trip to wonderland in Dubai!

Well we did it!

Then on the way back, the satiated and happy children rebelled on me! They started tormenting me in the bus! I was trying hard to be a good example and they knew that they had me in a Vice Grip. Other than that, I feel that, maybe, Omar Raggal had way too much sugar and got slightly jealous of my cool hat that I bought, with Indiana Jones Flaps to cover the neck.

And that no matter how HARD he tried...There would be no way that he could ever organise such a huge thing himself. Because of how hard he tried....things got in his way, just for the sake of it. Because I tried only as much as was necessary, and allowed things to take their course, then things worked out well...until the end. (There is a darker, under-belly, to this story, that bears mentioning: I have never been the same ever sine, the pressures of being a good boy versus being a bad boy versus being a victim versus being a victimiser really took its toll. I became much more complex and yet, so very simple, after that affair.

Finally, I must return to my original topic: I don't believe that the people who volunteer to be politicians have any false impressions: They all know that there's a much higher Common Denominator: Whatever YOU want it to be!

I organized the logistics to take 100 people on a free organized bus tour: The vagrants in each class had to be convinced not to rebel openly in class for 3 weeks, and I succeeded.

I think those bastards realised oh so late, that they had been beaten by one of their own. In that way, I feel as if they banded together for the common goal: Teach Dr.Oats a Lesson.

Well, I was out of there, I left that system, and all those people, long behind me..

I hope they're well.

77 frames

Machines that aLmost fall over

2008-10-18T20:35:00.002-04:00

Wow and I bet none of you have ever felt as shocked as you will feel....watching these precarious machines ALMOST fall over on themselves....

Watch it and find yourself at the edge of your seat with panic!!!

The bull in the china shop.

Be AMAZED at how hilarious THIS spastic machine is when it tries to draw circles!

Picasa

2008-10-18T16:50:00.006-04:00

To my beloved "Internet Llamas" Dr. Oats has spent the past five hours resizing, organizing, and uploading photos!

That's right! My best-selling album, exclusive to Dr. Oats and the Internet Llamas has been turned into a special free offer! For a Limited time only, get access into my life and that of my friends for free!!

Here is your source for all the photos you can handle.... and more!

:)

2008-10-18T01:36:00.001-04:00

I'm happy, yep.

2008-10-16T01:28:00.004-04:00

Conservatives love dismantling programs. By flipping OAC into grade 12 here in Ontario, by 2002, with a conservative premiere in power for almost a decade, I would swear that they reduced the average intelligence of the province and turned all the children into `output`: Into human resource fit for turning into cash cows and money-centric insensitives.

I love this Country, and so should you: Listening to Harper is like having Rasputin whisper sweet nothing in your ear...DUM.DUM.DUM.!!

So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish

2008-10-15T22:39:00.003-04:00

This Halloween, I'll be dressing up. But as what?

I have a few choices: I could choose something horrific, something terrific, something angelic,but I'd prefer something ironic.

I think my costume: Mexican Space Cowboy from Mars has been over done, though.

Any suggestions?

Down Down...Saddam

2008-10-15T18:23:00.002-04:00

I am so disappointed with our voter turnout! This government has no mandate! No one wants to play the game. Kids: Remember, without your votes, there will BE no change.

However, not to worry, I am sure, just look into Harper's eyes and go back to sleep..

lull a bye, baby, on a treetop, lull a bye baby, etc...

Talk to you later.

Dastardly

2008-10-15T12:14:00.002-04:00

I miss cartoons with morals, where, for example, after vanquishing the enemy, the hero would have a 5 minute segment discussing the right from the wrong, and the morally incorrect decisions that someone in the cartoon made that almost led to catastrophic consequences, only barely saved from the brink of destruction by the strength and wits of the main character.

I miss you guys!

Captain Planet, He's the Hero, Gonna take Pollution Down to Zero!

Thunder, Thunderr, Thunderrrr, Thunder Cats -= HO!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Turtles Power!

and Finally:

By the Power of Grey Skull, I am HE-MAN!

In a tribute to later eras,

Biker Mice from Mars, now those guys were tough.

SWAT Cats : Those guys were the epitome of cool cats...man... I miss you guys!

Super Hilarious Article Stolen from Super Hilarious Blog!

2008-10-15T05:49:00.001-04:00

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/13/tetris-costumes-are.html

Citizens! Making your own things, including Tetris Costumes, remains illegal

POSTED BY MINISTER CRAY PIPPIN WANG, OCTOBER 13, 2008 9:10 AM | PERMALINK

Definition of Fraud -

2008-10-15T03:11:00.002-04:00

Find out the Britannica Encyclopedia Online entry for FRAUD>

50 Thousand Dollars

2008-10-15T02:59:00.003-04:00

What would you do if you were offered fifty thousand dollars in 12 weeks? With an initial investment of five thousand? Would you believe it? Would it matter? It would, because the investment would be in yourself. Isn't that insane? You have to believe in yourself and trust yourself before you can multiply your initial investment of five thousand dollars and multiply it ten-fold.

I have no understanding of whether this is possible during the current economic times, however, I do believe that this concept is strange, weird, and relatively timely, considering some of the things I have asked the universe for. Among other things, I wrote on a piece of paper "Show me the money". And here it is being shown to me. I am too scared to waste 5 thousand dollars.

However, let me create a little snapshot of how much money I have wasted so far since 2003

(Granted I am being dramatical)

n Thousand Dollars x 2 years on Chemical Engineering : Wasted. No Degree

x Thousand Dollars x 2 years on Classical Civilisation: Wasted. No Degree.

y Thousand Dollars per month x 12 months : Wasted. Cigarettes, Take-Out, and Booze.

Comparatively..

Five thousand dollars is a drop in the Ocean. And the only catch is: I would have to constantly work hard, doing something infuriatingly easy, and get paid to do it, as long as I am willing to put up 10% of the Five Thousand Dollars, and pay an annuity.

WHAT in the NAME of the UNIVERSE should I DO?

What would YOU DO?

facebook users

2008-10-14T22:21:00.002-04:00

well I knew an attack was inevitable...but I didn`t know how quickly and from whom. My page was reported as ABUSIVE by someone on facebook. I don`t quite know the details but I have a niggling suspicion that it was a certain woman from a small town in Turkey, who has discussed with me the concept of `kurdish` and claims that there is no such thing as kurdistan. I believe that she is correct in syntax, but I exclaimed with wonderment as to the relevancy of her comment on a posting I made dealing with the areas of majority kurdish settlement. As usual, there is no reasoning with these people.

Unfortunately, literally thousands of websites with anything to do with kurd or kurdistan or kurdish have been hacked by hackers, mainly turkish hackers, who crack the passwords, then deface the page, then pull down the website.

Unfortunately, there is nothing to be done about these people as they do not believe in free speech nor do they understand Irony.

I believe that the most likely candidate as to why the website was reported as abusive was the header line: `shine brighter than the snow capped kurdish mountains`or whatever i wrote.

Well here`s to the end of a good time. May harrassment end soon. If not, I personally have no power to stop it.

If anyone knows a way to get facebook contacted about this issue I would greatly appreciate it.

Vote "smartly"

2008-10-14T01:06:00.003-04:00

Due to its relevancy: Here is a letter I sent to editors of ~20 newspapers in canada. I have no idea if it was published, but whomever is reading this blog.. I hope it strikes a chord.

Dear Editor,

Stephen Harper is "not his own man" and he should be stopped. Mr. Harper: If you can not take responsibility for a speech you personally delivered in 2003, advocating that Canada join the U.S. in its war against Iraq, then you have no credibility in this election. As far as I'm concerned, this means that you still support the idea of sending our soldiers to die, in wars, for unclear reasons. President Bush seems to have a lot of influence over you, Mr. Harper.

If Harper had sold Canada on that plan, then he would not have had any credibility in this election. Until I heard about the plagiarism, I was happy to remain in denial about Harper's agenda of following American/Australian Right Wing Foreign Policy.

Clearly, if he can not read an original speech about sending Canada to war, then he should not be allowed to have a majority government! He is against positive change, against free speech, and against truly protecting the environment.

It seems that he is driven by ancient motivations of greed and glory. His presence as Prime Minister would further lower the benchmark by which the world will judge Canadians. I think that his leadership is a danger to Canada.

• I urge all Canadians to vote "Smartly", and visit voteforenvironment.ca where you can see which party is most likely to win in your area. It is based on polls taken in your riding.

Sincerely,

Dr. Oats
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA

2008-10-12T19:29:00.005-04:00

Hello Again

Today it's a beautiful, wonderful, happy, thanks giving here in Toronto. The weather was glorious. I went to a small, pristine, clean, lake. There I just sat on a rock and contemplated my hang over. Haha... the sun was shining in my eye and reflecting off the lake as it was setting. I felt like the future was very very bright.. in my mind's eye.

I am certain that I have never heard anything so ludicrous as what I heard someone tell me today: They have never voted, and never will, because they think that the new party is always worse than the old party. Total and Complete shroud over a mind that's essentially pleasant. But how stupid? I asked : Don't you think you'd rather prefer to CHOOSE to whom your money goes? The answer: NO. HAHAHA well...... Taxes and then some.... A tax on the stupid. I have a mission: Do not feel contempt for the lesser beings.. But how sad that this is the state of our democracy.

In other words of wisdom, I have updated the video bar with some interesting key words, it produced some wonderful choices. Thanks for watching.

There's a great book in my posession called "The Silmarillion" and it is J.R.R. Tolkien's massive effort from his early days until his death, to create a parallel mythology to which he attributed his stories of the Hobbit.

I will give you an excerpt from a letter to his friend Milton Waldman, 1951:

"Anyway all this stuff* is mainly concerned with Fall, Mortality, and the Machine. With Fall inevitably, and that motive occurs in several modes. With Mortality, especially as it affects art and the creative (or as I should say, sub-creative) desire which seems to have no biological function, and to be apart from the satisfactions of plain ordinary biological life, with which, in our world, it is indeed usually at strife. This desire is at once wedded to a passionate love of the real primary world, and hence filled with the sense of mortality, and yet unsatisfied by it. It has various opportunities of "Fall". It may become possessive, clinging to the things made as its own, the sub-creator wishes to be the Lord and the God of his private creation. He will rebel against the laws of the Creator-especially against mortality. Both of these (alone or together) will lead to the desire for Power, for making the will more quickly effective, - and so to the Machine (or Magic). By the last I intend all use of external plans or devices (apparatus) instead of developments of the inherent inner powers or talents or even the use of these talents with the corrupted motive of dominating: bulldozing the real world, or coercing other wills. The Machine is our more obvious modern form though more closely related to Magic than is usually recognised.

I have not used 'magic' consistently, and indeed the Elven-queen Galadriel is obliged to remonstrate with the Hobbits on their confused use of the word both for the devices and operations of the Enemy, and for those of the Elves. I have not, because there is not a word for the latter( since all human stories have suffered the same confusion). But the Elves are there (in my tales) to demonstrate the difference. Their magic is Art, delivered from many of its human limitations: more effortless, more quick, more complete (product, and vision in unflawed correspondence). And its object is Art not Power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous reforming of Creation. The 'Elves' are 'immortal', at least as far as this world goes: and hence are concerned rather with the griefs and burdens of deathlessness in time and change, than with death. The Enemy in successive forms is always 'naturally' concerned with sheer Domination, and so the Lord of magic and machines; but the problem: that this frightful evil can and does arise from an apparently good root, the desire to benefit the world and others**-speedily and according to the benefactors own plans - is a recurrent motive.

* It is, I suppose, fundamentally concerned with the problem of the relation of Art(and Sub-creation) and Primary Reality."

**Not in the Beginner of Evil: his was a sub-creative Fall, and hence the Elves (the representatives of sub-creation par excellence) were peculiarly his enemies, and the special object of his desire and hate - and open to his deceits. Their Fall is into possessiveness and (to a less degree) into perversion of their art to power."

What I liked about this man's letter is that his thoughts are a precursor to a lot of the world's fantasy and his philosophies are extremely relevant in this day and age of faeries and gods and fantasies all shrouded as 'religion' and 'politics' and we must realise that lessons must be taken from the venerated people of the past, so that we don't end up with a new, even more naive and ignorant world.

Tolkien also said

" I dislike Allegory - the conscious and intentional allegory - yet any attempt to explain the purport of myth or fairytale must use allegorical language. (And, of course, the more life a story has the more readily will it be susceptible of allegorical interpretations: while the better a deliberate allegory is made the more nearly will it be acceptable just as a story.) Anyway all this stuff*...[continued in first quotation]"

Obviously, do not take things TOO seriously... but ponder!

2008-10-12T04:14:00.001-04:00

This is a quick update for those of you who want to know :

My goal is 10,000$ before I leave this country for a holiday. My mind needs to consume freely and I need to digest it all. The location of my new internship is my house :) I am so cool :[]

Goooood Morning Ontario

2008-10-11T12:52:00.002-04:00

I love to dance, and this morning, when I woke up, I played my new favourite song "Gangsta Nation"-Ice Cube. I didn't realize how much room my room has for me to dance in! I cleared all the clutter and now I am so happy! The floor is hard-wood square panels composed of 4 rectangular sections stuck together in varying up/down orientations. I Removed the Rug "RtR" and rolled up the thing. IT was so wide!

I think the reason it took up so much psychological space, is that the damn thing is not mine! I am always conscious of not ruining it. It's cut in the middle that connects the two halves and I don't want a broken ancient rug on my hands!

In Other news: There is a strong chance that this election will become the vanguard of a new generation of activists: Lazy and bored.

The movement is in your living room! I think that it is important to note: Most people in north america aren't people, they're "Interpeople" and their thoughts are directed by the websites they visit. This is, in my opinion, slightly better than TV, but on the flipside, they're isolated, and prone to being stuck in their own world far too long to see rationally. Imagine all the scenarios, if you could, and think of the horror!! THE HORROR!!! These social sites are places like pitstops on the internet. Some people love pit-stops, and this internet happens to be a free place, where there is no emotional obligation to buy drink or stuff. However....The internet2.0 will be coming soon. If you noticed, I have some widgets attached to my website. Do you know why? So I'll be ready.

Widgets are essential in the new internet. They are targeted advertisements that can potentiall cost 0$ to make and very little time and effort. Just a little imagination. Consider this an invitation, to my gangsta nation. I plan to rise in the ranks somehow, but where and when. And for what?

I mean: I have nothing stopping me from doing what I want, except for fear of unknown evils that I may bring upon myself. Strangely, after writing this past sentence, I realize how stupid this sounds.

Well, That's a strange introduction: Chemical Engineers and Classical Civilisationists UNITE! To form a union of engineering change in modern society! I go so far to presume that>>>>I am a Renaissance Man....

Now to become a Renaissance Super Man..!!

Autumn Cleaning

2008-10-10T15:40:00.001-04:00

I feel so great! It's so wonderful to throw away old shit!

Who's got the keys to my bimma?

2008-10-10T07:17:00.002-04:00

7:17 AM. 10/10/08.

Hello everyone.

I hope you are well. I am pleased to announce that I have awarded the positions #1 simultaneously to 2 people. I hope that makes you pleased. I disagree with any backwards behaviour, so #0 also works.

Regards,

Delan Ahmad

p.s.: I am inviting some of you, my close friends, to join me in collaborating on this blog. It's a project that will span about 1 - 3 years, 5 years maximum.

But potentially only 6-3 months minimum.

Regards,

Delan Ahmad

Slightly Used, a poem by me

2008-10-09T02:47:00.002-04:00

Hahaha, Well today I joined a group thinking it was what I thought it was. "Dope Poets Society" is a group of toronto artist/musicians, and I thought that the facebook group belonged to the same group. Well it weren't the case, it was a poetry group. So i wrote a poem on the spot with no effort.

Slightly used,

Abused and refused.

Would you be amused?

I think that this poo

can smile back at you

only if you stand

closer to my hand :)

Vote "Smartly"

2008-10-08T22:33:00.004-04:00

2008-10-08T09:25:00.001-04:00

Quick update, I am going to find out my career path today. Hooray~!

Tao Te Ching

2008-10-07T17:48:00.002-04:00

Tao te ching is pronounced Dao de Jing. How crazy is it that a system to transliterate chinese letters needs a system on its own to pronounce it! Oh well, people do the dumbest things.

What a wonderful experience today! I went up the elevator in the famous peacock building Robarts Library, and Lo! My friends Matija and Irena were waiting at the top, as the door opened. I am not surprised. Based on my life's coincidences, things like that just make me happy to be alive.

The Lay of the Land

2008-10-07T13:19:00.003-04:00

If you're reading this, please, tell me about your opinion:

do you like the lay-out?

Steady as she goes!

2008-10-07T12:47:00.004-04:00

Thoroughly a fun time! Yesterday was a fantastic series of events. I happen to enjoy a very highly attuned sense of universe-coincidence. Among other things that happened yesterday, perhaps the most unusual was that I ran into an old friend from high-school, whom I've been thinking about since about three weeks ago, and who quit attending my university some years ago. While crossing the street towards my girl friend's office, I realized that I was going the wrong side of the road, and did an about-turn only to be confronted with a face I recognize, on a body that I don't!

Ha!

Picasa

2008-10-06T21:09:00.005-04:00

Well now brothers and sisters from the facebook realm:

Here goes the official launch. Dr. Oats and the internet Llamas are going live right now. As soon as I get on the hard-drive, I'll be launching a new album : yes yes yes it's going to be on picasa!

Smack!

2008-10-06T18:55:00.007-04:00

Hello World 655364