First Date

My first date gives me pretty good directions and I navigate through the narrow streets of LaJolla, dealing with the new 'Euro' style traffic circles some over paid fuck wacked out on coke came up with while contemplating the universe...
...I pull into the back of the condo complex find a spot to park and of course I am early...
Like fifteen minutes early...I can smell the ocean, the place is no more than a block from the beach...I wipe my palms off on my jeans taking care not to get any on my new shirt..
I hang out ten minutes then use my cell phone and call her..It takes a minute or so to get a signal like always on the cheap little bastard..I got to check real close too when I punch in the numbers. The buttons are perfect size for Hobbits, Munchkins, or Lilliputs...
..."Hi, it's Steve, I am here"....There's a pause,.."Ok honey, give me a few minutes to just take a shower..... I'll call you back with the condo number, ok sweetie"?..
It's hot in the fucking car..That's the thing about Southern California..It's always hot in the fucking car..Even when it's raining it's hot in the fucking car..I check the flowers to make sure their not wilting..I can't stand it anymore. I get out for some air..The last thing I want is to have to pull my shirt away from a sticky body cuz it's so fucking hot in the car...I get the flowers out and set the vase on the trunk...
It's actually cooler up in the east county mountains where I live...I think it's the humidity factor down here so close to the ocean. The wild flowers are catching some kind of breeze though, threating to flip the vase over..I grab it, and manage to spill some water on my shirt...God damn flowers are turning out to be more hassel then their worth..
I picked em off an embankment on the frontage road near my house leading up to the freeway...It's just two lanes and steep banks on both sides of the road...There wasn't a lot of shoulder room and the few cars that passed me slowed down and made like New York City about it..
People in a rural community are just like the bored dogs and horses they keep..
Everything is a source of entertainment...
Probably cuz they can't get 'cable' or DSL that far out...
Also the spot I pulled off was only about 500 ft. from the Border Patrol check point...
Of course I must be loading up illegials, that's why I am stopped on the side of the road 500 ft. from the check point....
I guess that's what they thought anyway.
I pull up and get the third degree..."State your Nationality." "Where you comin' from"?..."Doing a little sight seeing"?...Ok if I check your trunk"?...
..Whatever...
...Ring, ring...It's Fallen back to me in three minutes..."Hi sweetie come on up..
There's an elevator by the mailboxes..It's the third floor number 307".....
I find the elevator and the place is quiet..No body there when the door opens...I punch the 3 button while making sure I don't tip the vase and have another accident...
Third floor landing no body around when the elevator doors open....
I step out...
The numbers on the doors are all reading in the 320's....I walk down the corridor and the damn numbers are getting bigger not smaller!...What the fuck?..
There's some adjacent halls...I walk down all of them...Ain't no number lower then 320..I set down the vase and wipe off my palms...I must have the wrong building!....
No friendly nieghbors around, no little old lady commenting "what beautiful flowers, are they for me"?...
No suit with a "can I help you", and no security guard in totalitarian attire flashing a false smile...
I grab my shirt pocket...No cell phone.. I left it in the car...
I mean, why not right? What the hell would I need it for?..I brave the elevator again back to the main entry....
There are three separate buildings in the complex....100's, 200's, 300's...No help...
I put the flowers on the trunk of the car again, they don't fall over...
I get the damn phone, ten minutes have passed now....
I check the phone...The fucker reads "no service"....
Is it me?..Is it just me, or does this kind of shit happen to you?...
My shirt, my stained shirt, is sticking to my back like wallpaper..I am walking back to the courtyard holding out my cell phone like Science Officer Spock on a random moon looking for any sign of life...
Fifteen minutes.....Holy Shit!..
I finally get a damn phone signal...Fallen's phone rings four times and the voice mail picks up...
I leave what I determine to be a rather calm message..."I can't find you,..Call me back"...
There are certain aspects in life that one can safety pedict the outcome...
Sun rises in the East, sets in the West..
The order of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter,.......and a woman scorned..
Fallen isn't calling back...She's pissed, I know it... Leave it to me to fuck up a wet dream..
I call a couple more times and even the voice mail doesn't want to hear it...
The way of the universe seems kind of fickle to me..On one hand there are the slow steady constants..Daytime turns in to night, and nightime into day...
The rise and fall of the tides...The steady progression of the constellations..
Then there's us...Apparenty we don't qualify..
It's the same boat for all of life under the sun...
Somebody, or something somewhere is having a laugh riot at all our expense...It's the only conclusion that makes sense...
That's the scary part...Just the process of trying to make sense of it may in fact be taking an univited liberty..

Brain Shivers and other Adventures

It's been over four months since I went cold turkey off the antidepressant Paxil..
Some where, some how, antidepressant drugs got tagged 'happy pills'...
I can advise you from my experience no antideppresant even comes close
to living up to it...
My 'family Doctor' got me started on this little adventure...
Three years ago..Not cuz I was sick..
It was advised as a means to avoid getting sick...
Do to a lot of stress in my everyday life.
I used to be a automotive mechanic...
Should have taken the advice of that industry's standard..
If it ain't broken, don't fix it...
The Family Doctor wrote me a 'referral' to see a Psychiatrist...
In the movies, Psychiatrists want to hear about your 'issues'...
They let you kick back on a stylin' recliner and listen to you create a major script for daytime TV...
Somewhere along the line Psychiatrists got smarter...
Now days they are just the drug dealers..
You got to pony up to a Psychologist to get the couch treatment...
All that writing Psychologist are doing while the patient is 'working through their issues' is the real place daytime TV scripts come from...
They fax all that stuff off at the end of the week to their literary agent, and forget about it...
I know this cuz, it's the only way I can explain why Psychologists never 'really' remember what it was you were talking about during your last session..
"Refresh my memory"
Paxil is a serotonin re uptake inhibitor...It slows down the bodies natural breakdown of the chemical manufactured in the brain...
Serotonin like many chemicals our bodies manufacture to keep us balanced tends to become in short supply as we age.
Serotonin is a buffer...A cushion that helps stress 'roll off' and generally speaking a smiley face to remain...
After three months I changed my Psychiatrist...
The first guy couldn't understand why after six weeks on Paxil my smiley face hadn't flown back in the window....
I was plunged into the world of 'mental health' first with the events of my Father.
In his early forties he fell victim to a form of schizophrenic disorder..
His second wife Betsy (also schizophrenic),....My wife Shirley,.... And I, were there for him through out his twenty year battle back from a stuporous state to some sense of a fulfilled life..
Four years ago and subsequently every year after including this year, a very close friend of mine has been battling suicide..
I had the privilege by request of the patient, to sit in on Psychiatrist sessions with my Father, and Betsy his second wife...
I am closely involved with the care of my close friend and always am included in those Psychiatrist sessions also...
By my close friend's current Psychiatrist's own admission...
Medical science to date does not have the knowledge, nor the technology, to confirm the diagnosis of most types of mental health issues..
Currently most mental health issues are diagnosed by 'symptoms'..
Some forms of mental health can be 'seen' by MRI and CAT scans..
These are usually in the schizophrenic disorders class as schizophrenic disorders leave scar tissue on the brain..
The close friend I refer two has had no less than four different Psychiatrists over the last four years...
Two of them, frustrated at 'trying' one type of antidepressant for six weeks, then another type for six weeks, wound up asking the patient...
What do you think we should do?
As I write this my friend is currently back in the hospital needing another 'evaluation' do to suicidal thoughts..
The common terminology used by Paxil junkies when describing withdrawal symptoms is 'brain shivers'...It feels like wave after wave of pressure squeezing and releasing inside ones brain...
Kind of what a hyperactive dog in training must feel around it's neck with a choke collar.
Equilibrium is rudely interrupted..
You ever wake up in the middle of the night and go bumping into walls trying to get to the bathroom?...
Brain shivers are a bad hangover without the previous benefits....
The first two weeks of withdrawal mine were accompanied by a high pitched sound in my ears...
Like a bird chirp. peep..peep...That was unnerving...
My Dad's first symptoms..were a cartoon music loop that kept playing over and over in his head...I hadn't forgotten that and It was freaking me out...
Very low energy level moving in slowwww motion...
I geared up though before I dove off....Drama mine helps a little with the equilibrium...
I didn't know drama mine is a antihistamine....I usually avoid them..That's just a personal preference..
It was worth the trade of in this case..
Other weapons in the arsenal: Saint John's Wort...A natural ingredient 'good mood' enhancer....I got Tylenol to combat headaches.. I was advised they are constant throughout the detox period...
Which leads me to the detox period...The way did it....Two weeks..
There is a easier softer road....One can choose to 'wean' themselves off Paxil slowly stepping down the dosage over a three to six month period...
Some people are successful doing it that way..
It's the same concept as nicotine patch withdrawal.
Personally, I don't have that kind of patience...
Might be one reason I was prescribed the drug in the first place..
Anyway, I think a lot of mental health issues today are a result of the social life style we are leading..
There are just a lot of stress factors in everyday life..
I have taken to the determination that a healthy state of mine is greatly determined by an individuals 'way' of addressing life daily..
You ever see the movie City Slickers?...."One thing", right?....Such an awesome concept...
I am still getting to the one thing...
I feel it's real important to understand what the real 'one thing' is..
With all the pressures of what is expected both from ourselves and those around us...
I think it does a body wise to take some time to contemplate...
Get clear on what that magical 'one thing' is...for you...

The Role of Religion in the New World

It's not my fault..I was instigated...
The Pope's lesson on the necessity to allow God to
make determination of the end of life drove me to it..
"People must accept death at the hour chosen by God"...
Pope Benedict XV1....
I love this Pope...He is a truly compassionate being...
He reminds me of Pope Paul the sixth..Another compassionate being...
Apparently some European countries decision to integrate a more human element of control concerning the issue of euthanasia fueled the Roman Catholic Church's decision to speak currently on the issue...
Per the Associated Press's article I read on yahoo...Belgium and The Netherlands have legalized euthanasia, and France is in the midst of renewed debate on the issue..
The teaching of the Church concerning this subject has not changed...It is based on the same sanctity of life, moral view that encompasses the Church's 'right to life' stand on abortion..
Abortion, euthanasia, are social issues today due to seedlings of thought beginning with the cultural revolution of the 1960's and 70's...
I believe those seeds have been cultivated by way of technological advances in natural sciences starting in the 1980's and still gathering momentum as we speak...
Mankind's horizon's are no longer manageable by the great Religious Institutions.
Faith, as a viable means of spiritual growth finds it's self shouting when a whisper would suffice not more than thirty years ago..
As gains in scientific discipline advent the once socially accepted norm 'we do not have the capacity to know'...begins to crumble and no body can find a legitimate reason to remodel.....
Mankind wants to 'know'...Mankind has always wanted to know...It is the nature of our beings..
Faith has held the high cards because Mankind has not had sufficient tools in the past to present viable challenge to the 'we do not have the capacity to know' ideal...
Questioning is a faith based religion's greatest concern ..
Let me just make the point, this concern is truly not based out of fear, as is the popular view of those who adhere to the concepts of atheism...
Instead I believe the greater concern is actually based in compassion...
The great religious Institutions want to preserve the ideals of Moralism...
As faith becomes a more questionable means of life value, pressure is placed on the shoulders of religion in regard to how society views their total value...
I was raised a Roman Catholic and my introduction to that faith left with me a great respect for Jesus Christ and his gifts to the world..
Christ was a realist and presented his message to a pre-scientific world...
Christ was also a revolutionary teacher in that he did question the status quo..
I believe in the spirit of Christ and I believe that spirit is here with us today...
I don't believe he is one to be found crouching in the shadows of fear...It is not his style..
As Mankind breaks away from faith he must do so cautiously...Man kind survived the ice ages due to his ability to remember the value of 'what got me this far'...Man's duelist role of both predator and prey instinctively ingrained a common sense of caution..
This is a good thing..
The fact is Religious institutions still have a great value to offer 'modern man'...Religious Institution have always taken the great and honorable responsibility of leaders and preservers of Morality...
It is this great and solemn responsibility that dictates these institutions move slowly...It is a prerequisite...Man is ADHD...Religion realizes this...Moral code is like a natural resource...Once given up it can not be restored...
Religious Institution realizes it's own mistakes over the years..It's own failure at it's own Moral code...Again, we are all only human...
I agree with the need for checks and balances working in our lives today...
On one hand, I am thrilled at the advances Man is making in the areas of technologies and science..
We are on the brink of something amazing in regards to man's ability to understand...
It is the self inherent responsibility of those who have chosen to carry the torch of Morality, to insure we venture into that new world together...

Thou Shall Not Kill

There are no creatures alive on this planet that don't survive at the expense of others..
It would be a mistake to propose literal adaption the age old moral pillar Thou Shall Not Kill.
To do so and exist would be impossible...
Even at our most innocent state of conscience our bodies are at work killing to protect us..
Without white blood cells killing invading microbes we would surely die..
With that established it qualifies the concept of 'justified killing'...
In an effort to understand the moral division line of justified or non justified killing, I once again find myself seeking to step through yet another door of perception..
As I am a relative child in experience and skilled process concerning the area of life loosely defined as contemplative..
It has been some time since the text above was written and this text added..
I have however chosen what I believe to be an adequate door of perception for our journey..
INTENT....
As established earlier killing must be allowed, it must be justified within the realm we live..
Without that license, I for one could not bear to view the despair of life as we know it..
There would be no hope for us as spiritual beings..
I do not believe in my heart, that it is the nature of the universe to exist such a realm by which spiritual growth is unattainable..
Man's typical hierarchy of life puts Human's at the top of the list then 'animals' and 'apples' somewhere down below..
This conception is a result of Man's self-centered ness...
It is a notion that has always bothered me and taken many moons of reflection to sort out...
Self-centered ness in and of itself is inherent in all life forms as we currently know them..
It is a necessary developed instinct common to all in a world based upon survival of the fittest..
However Human kind have taken up the flagship of 'self' to the extent of inflicting such conflict and violence
not seen by any other life form..
Couple this 'ego' with a creative intellect and all other life learns quickly to run for cover..
So have I surmised that the degree of self-centered ness practiced in the act of killing will greatly effect
the INTENT of the killing..
It is the value contained in the INTENT of the act that determines the degree of justification or unjustifiable the act it self..
When I was a child of eight years, my Parents bought me a pellet gun as a gift..
My Father was an avid fishermen and hunter..
I am sure he meant it as my introduction into a form of recreation he so enjoyed..
As was my first fishing pole and reel...
Both my Parents held a reverence for nature and that value was instilled in me..
The golden rule: What ever was killed was to be eaten for food..
I would accompany my Father on fishing and hunting trips although I was too young to hunt, and
too distracted by my surroundings to be a patient fisherman.
I did however experience the excitement of the catch..
Initially I was allowed to target practice with my pellet gun in the back yard..
One day however, my Father and I went on an excursion in the woods near our home.
I brought the pellet gun along..The memory of the excitement of the catch was my
determination for bringing the gun with me that day..
A group of small blackbirds were feeding on the forest floor and I decided I should try to
shoot one of these birds..I did so from a distance and succeeded in only wounding a bird, not killing it
right out...
I approached the fluttering bird as it struggled between life and death..It was in obvious great pain, great fear,
helpless and innocent...
The excitement of the kill only a moment ago was now completely alien to me..
My heart burst for what I had done, for no good reason, to another life...
I stood over the dying bird with the pellet gun still in my hands...A great overwhelming sadness enveloped me
and with no other thought than to end it's suffering,
I emptied the remaining pellets into the bird until I was certain it was dead.
I have continued to fish from time to time over the years..My Father, a knowledgeable man, advised me
the nervous system of fish is primitive in the evolutionary scheme of things..Fish don't feel much pain
as I perceive it to be...
Much to my Father's disappointment however, I never picked up a gun again..
The first INTENT in the example is one of self-centered ness..
Clearly disrespect coupled with self-centered ness the motivation of intent per the shooting..
The actual act of killing however was with the intent of compassion..
Self-centered quilt no doubt played a role.
This event took place fourty-eight years ago and has resurfaced in my memory from time to time
through out my life...
To this day,I clearly recall the emotions...
I have found that often what becomes apparent stumbling down these little roads of perception
are answers as if depicted in one way road sign warnings..
The answer to 'self-centered ness'...is 'compassion'...
The justification in killing becomes...'with reverence'...

Evil versus Evil?

You all do it right?..
You know, from time to time, reflect on the 'way things are?'..
Find yourself questioning the wisdom of the ancients?..
For me, it starts with a word...
Since childhood I've been fascinated with concept of morality. Both Human and practiced by other species..
After a lot of repetitive thought I eventually came to a kind of foundation starting point on the subject..
Moral values are fluid..They are relative.
Relative to culture...Social customs...Personal preference...Species...
Also subject to change based on time, place, and degree..
As a grown up child I have revisited the subject during reflective moments and
drawn further conclusions..
Morality is a created value system activated by response to circumstances.
By created I mean concocted as opposed to for example,...gravity..
I would attempt to clarify by writing: Morality is a defined and adopted response
to circumstances rising from the interaction of positive and negative forces playing out in our daily lives..
Would you agree with that?..
Doin so would put you in line with a lot of folks who believe the existence of positive and negative forces are as much a part of reality as gravity..
I know I sure did...'Shit happens' and all that...
Lately though, journeying down my fledgling path of perception..I have been hampered by reoccurring pangs of doubt...
Like deciding to go hiking wearing shorts cuz the weather seems to dictate it..Then finding oneself trapped in the middle of a thistle patch..
For me, the diligence required to set out on the path is challenge enough...
My mind keeps getting in the way..
It hurts actually..
There is a constant battle going on and, my mind is sneaky..
It doesn't play fair...I think it's envy or something akin to jealousy..
It's opponent has no name...
My mind however has a name for it..."Nagging Virago"...
I am sure the Nag is not a separate avenue of thought within my own mind, as it communicates ideas my mind doesn't want to deal with..
One mean offensive tactic of my mind is it's capacity to create fatigue forcing me to turn away from the path of perception...
It follows up as a wicked Step Mother slyly promising to allow my return to the path at a later date..
"You can go there tomorrow...In the morning, when your rested....Oh, wait...Your going to be busy with other stuff tomorrow...Maybe the next day then.."
"Besides, loosecanon, your boring me,...and everyone around you.."
What if good and bad,... those positive and negative forces, are actually just creations themselves?
They exist no doubt..We deal with them every waking moment of every day..But are they physics of the universe? Like gravity I mean...
Or are they a creation of the living?
Zen claims they exist like gravity...They are a result of a law of the universe called Cause and Effect...
According to Zen, the universe at it's perfect harmonious state is like a glassy lake..
Every movement be it physical or mental thought, by all things in existence 'cause' a ripple in the lake..
As all things in existence are a part of the universe the ripple is experienced by all that exists..Thus the 'effect'...The entire process is termed 'karmic'...
Weight is added to the effect of this natural phenomenon in terms of the intent of the initial act of movement..
Thus the effect of karmic events can be categorized and termed... 'Good' karma, 'Bad' karma, or 'Indifferent' karma...
The categorizing of karmic events is done through the process of Moral values...
It is at this very point on my path of perception I find myself scratching involuntarily at thistle needles...
If the definition of the perfect harmonious state of the universe is undisturbed...Then any karmic activity of any intent is a disturbance of the perfect state...
Logic leads to only one conclusion...Any karmic event must logically be categorized as 'Bad'...
If all karmic events are 'bad' then where does the term 'good' or 'indifferent' come from?
It comes from the same place morality comes from...
My head hurts...

The Georgian South Ossetia conflict

The Players
Georgia
Russia
South Ossetia
The World
The drama: The majority of the Ossetes living south of the main Caucasus range in Georgia wish to unite with the Ossetes living to the north, in an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation; and the Georgians, regarding South Ossetia as both a legal and an historic part of their national territory, refuse to accept this.
Russia's reaction
Taken from: Anatol Lieven New America Foundation The Times (London) August 11, 2008)
With absolute determination not to be defeated by Georgia and not to suffer the humiliation of having to abandon Russia’s South Ossete client state, with everything that this would mean for Russian prestige in other areas. Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin made it clear again and again that if Georgia attacked South Ossetia, Russia would fight. Georgian advocates in the West claimed that Moscow was only bluffing.
It wasn’t.
Russia is a county that reacts out of fear..It is not paranoia based...Fact is Russia has been invaded, occupied, re invented, so often it's no wonder she chooses alienation and bullyboyism as a means of protection..
Russia still seeks security in an old world mentality...Heavy governmental control within her borders and an obsessive compulsive desire to control those countries on her borders as added security measures.

South Ossetia: Can't get no satisfaction from the 'less than' attitude of Georgia..No doubt part of the feelings of alienation and lack of recognition South Ossetia is experiencing from Georgia is a result of the 'rift' of idealism between the to...
However, it seems apparent Georgia should change their tactics...There is still time for Georgia to help their own cause by showing them selves part of the global 'political right' in promoting diversity in their own back yard..
Unfortunately their recent course of action only views them to the world as a reflection of the Russian Federation's answer to unresolved territorial issues...
I wonder if Georgia is 'big' enough to publicly apologize for an hot headed decision and offer to begin serious peace talks with South Osstia with the intent of healing new and old wounds?...Promoting Christianity(to put in a very broad term) may well be the answer...

Georgia: South Ossetia lies smack in the middle of two main border crossings and trade roads to other countries...Plus there are two oil pipelines running through Georgia that 'infiltrators' from the north threaten to use as political terrorism to give Russia an excuse to invade Georgia under guise of protecting the world oil market..

Every body knows there is nothing worst than a paranoid Russia....
My recommendation to leaders of the free world is take away Russia's ability to manipulate...Don't 'chastise'...the Russian government...It will only make the bear 'grumpy'....The 'people' of Russia need to be considered here...The response of the free world must be one of action that is like a parent to a child...Take away the toys until it can behave it's self...My grave concern is that what we do to the Russian government, we do to the Russian people as well..
My recommendations are at the bottom of this article:

Ossetian's History:
Pushed out of their medieval homeland in what is present day Russia, Ossetians took refuge in Georgia forming three distinct territorial entities..Digor in the west came under the influence of the neighboring Kabard people, who introduced Islam...
Tuallag in the South became South Ossetia, part of historical Georgian principality of Samachablo where Ossetians found refuge from Mongol invaders..
Iron in the north became North Ossetia under Russian rule from 1767..
Is it just me or do Ossetians owe Georgia some 'respect' for saving their ass from the Mongolians?
Modern day South Ossetia was "annexed" by Russia in 1801 including Georgia proper...

'Colonialism'...In my humble opinion a true evil concept and the root of territorial conflict through out the world yesterday, today, tomorrow...It is the 'stuff' WAR is made of...
Tensions in the region began to rise amid rising nationalism among both Georgians and Ossetians in 1989.

'Nationalism'...Another pet peeve of mine..Hell bent on the separation and alienation of peoples around the globe...
Prior to this, the two communities had been living in peace with each other except for the episode in 1920.(Ossetian and Georgian Bolsheviks going at it.) Both ethnicities have had a high level of interaction and high rates of intermarriages.
South Ossetia Economy
Following a war with Georgia in the 1990s, South Ossetia has struggled economically. Employment and supplies are scarce. Additionally, Georgia cut off supplies of electricity to the region, which forced the South Ossetian government to run an electric cable through North Ossetia. The majority of the population survives on subsistence farming. Virtually the only significant economic asset that South Ossetia possesses is control of the Roki Tunnel that links Russia and Georgia, from which the South Ossetian government reportedly obtains as much as a third of its budget by levying customs duties on freight traffic. The separatist officials admitted that Tskhinvali received more than 60 percent of its 2006 budget revenue directly from the Russian government. In late 2006, a large international counterfeiting operation stretching from South Ossetia was revealed by U.S. Secret Service and Georgian police..

My take: Georgia's decision to attack South Ossetia is so typical 'Russian' in mentality...With George W. Bush lobbying to include Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO it seems the decision to attack a weaker foe (leaving Russian Federation manipulation tactics out of the mix)...reflects immaturity..
How difficult would it be for Georgia to try 'turning on the love light' for those South Ossetians over there?..
What exactly does Georgia have to lose by practicing a ethic of compromise and tolerance to the language and culture of South Ossetians?

Suggestions for a peaceful resolve: South Ossetia is a wasteland...It's a nightmare of exploited natural resources and soil contamination..Hazardous waste dumps, aging nuclear sites left from the Soviet 'industrial complex' that are categorized as "still generating pollution"...A major risk to local water supplies..Deforestation, overgrazed pasture lands...The area is isolated and suffers from a weak economy..(resource: http://www.americanresource.edu/ted/ice/ossetia.htm )
Create settlement areas in North Ossetia..Immigrate the South Ossetian people to North Ossetia..This is a population of approximately 70,000. The coordination and operation of such a project should be done through a neutral humanitarian entity...Cost of this project should be shared by the entire Global community that desire the end of conflicts such as this around the world...Georgia and Russia should equally participate in this funding effort..
Allow Georgia to retain South Ossetia as their land..However, both Georgia and Russia will agree to South Ossetia as a neutral zone and allow a United Nations peace keeping force to govern the area..This will create a buffer between the two countries and a security measure between the two countries...Roads will remain open to traffic however, traffic will be subject to search, and seizure, and due process per the specific governing laws created for this 'neutral zone' to be an effective deterrent to violence...
The environmental issues should be addressed and steps taken heal the land..Again another project funded by the Global community with interests in protection and recovery of the environment.
If either Russia or Georgia for that matter should elect to dismiss a peaceful resovle to the conflict then economic sanctions should be explored at that time..

Second Chance

I got this big fat letter in the mail today ...In big letters it says "HERE'S THAT SECOND CHANCE YOU HOPED FOR LooseCanon"...
I had to stop for a moment and check the return side of it....Make sure it wasn't from God or somebody important.....
It was from Mutual of Omaha....
That's an insurance provider right?.....I've never done business with them,...ever...
So it was with some amazement I stood there by my rickety mail box on this hot august afternoon with thunder heads towering up in the east, causing a slight back draft prevailing from my west...I'd been working under the house making a basement storage area ..Just me and my constant companion Violet...My one female cat...In fact...
....That's her kicking' back while I write this thing still fresh in my mind...
I came up from under the house for some air, and the breeze by the mail box felt fine as it dried up the sweat on my chrome dome and shoulders...It's one of those freebies in life I try to make note of when ever it occurs...
So, Mutual of Omaha claims to have the second chance I've been hoping for....Got to love modern technology...How those guys could manage not only to 'know' what the second chance I've been hoping for was,... but to fit it into an envelope small enough to slip inside my mail box....I am impressed...
I figure I am going to be even more impressed when I finally open the envelope up...Reminds me Johnny Carson doing Carnac the Magnificent....
Like I said I've never had any dealings with the company...
Yea, I know the obvious..They are about insurance...Security....Including life insurance...
The kind of insurance that some how appeals to our fear of death..
Insuring a kind of concrete knowledge that for at least while the benefactors are 'in the money', you are still ,'in the show',...beyond the grave...
....A positive haunting.....
It temporarily beats back the finality of death.......You know, the thing that scares the shit out of us and makes us 'governable'.....
Life of the party LooseCanon,.....
Only thing I know about Mutual of Omaha is they sponsor that 'Wild Kingdom' show on television....It originated in 1963 and the host was Marlin Perkins..
The show was great.....Lots of education about how the other beings on the planet survive and find fulfillment...
It seems to me strange logic that a insurance company would sponsor documentary style television promoting nature's natural selection process..If anything, a fundamental denominator of all creatures surviving the wild is the absolute knowledge life holds no security....
When an insurance company pays out a claim it's only the monetary portion of the loss that's covered..For example, when a subscriber loses their home to fire or flood the best case scenario would be the insurance funds cover complete rebuilding of the structure..
Insurance programs have no means to cover the emotional trauma such a disaster entails...
I was reading recently an article entitled, 'Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch' http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/science/14tier.html
that suggests we may in fact be living in someone else's 'Matrix'....This hypothesis is based on the current standard of virtual technology weighting it against the short time it has taken virtual technology to arrive at it's current state...
I figure it's just a matter of time before we see insurance companies advertising a policy that guarantees total protection from the events we now insure ourselves against...Initially the policy will be expensive, just to pay for all that software..
However in time, I expect it will become mandatory 'State law' for all citizens to carry such a policy...After all, the burden tax payers are shelling out to support 'social programs' would be eliminated in a flash if nothing 'bad' ever happened..
So, what you think?...Has the future of insurance already arrived?...
Is it possible the 'second chance' I've been waiting for is in fact the program I described, waiting for me inside this large envelope needing only my simple signature (and credit card number of course) on the dotted line?
I'm getting excited!..Are you getting excited? I am definitely getting excited!
I'm tearing this baby open man!...Oh shit...
I forgot...
I got laid off last week and my credit card is max'd out!
Opening this little slice of heaven is just gonna' get me all depressed...
Well, hell...Story of my life..And to think I missed my second chance by that....much...
It's ok though, cuz I bet you all are going to get one of these envelopes in your mailbox too!..Yeah, I mean come on, it's not like I am special or anything...I bet Mutual of Omaha wants everybody to get in on this deal!
Wow, I got to admit, I feel pretty good knowing there's so many folks out there going to get the 'second chance they have been hoping for'....