Archive for November, 2006
I went to visit my grandmother last week. She is my mother’s mother and she is staying with my uncle (my mother’s older bother). She does not have Alzheimer, but her memory is not so good. She has very difficult time remembering anything new, and she also has hard time doing simple things nowadays. For example, she cannot comfortably take a walk in her neighborhood and come back home. She is no longer capable of managing her money, so my uncle is taking care of it. It is simply impossible for her to understand what exactly I do in my life (I run a small internet business by the way); it is not that she is unintelligent, but her brain power is not there. She is getting old.
A couple of days before I went to visit my grandmother, my cat disappeared. I picked her up at a park almost twenty years ago; she was apparently abandoned by her owner. She had a couple of bothers and sisters, and they were all in a box. I could not take them all with me, so I only took her. It has been almost a week since she disappeared, and she was getting really old (not many cats live for twenty years or longer), so it is probably fair to guess that she died (I feel a bit sad to write this, but that is probably what happened).
So what does my grandmother’s old age have anything to do with my cat’s old age? Here is the moral of the story. Unless cats are perfectly domesticated, they live kind of independently. They go take a walk when they like. They manage to catch mice. They manage to live for days somehow even if their owners are not around. Also I hear that many of them don’t just die on a couch; they disappear somehow when they realize that their time is up. They can take care of themselves when they die. No one has to be around them.
Can a human take of himself/herself when he dies of old age? Not really. There are certainly those who die alone, but most of them die while other people are taking care of them. Family members take of them if they are fortunate. They often die in nursing homes. They also die in hospitals. Basically they, humans, need to be taken care of by other humans when they die. They cannot just sense that their time is up, accept it, move to a peaceful place and die with peace and dignity. Humans are very dependent especially when they get old and be near their death.
The moral of the story is this. Humans will never become like cats who can take care of themselves even when they die. Humans are dependent and they need to be taken care of. Therefore, the society ought to be structured so that it takes care of those who are old, especially those who are old and do not live much longer. The modern society is going backward. The modern society is not kind, warm or gentle to those who are old and do not live much longer. Some say that those who are weak are being eliminated just like the nature eliminates weak ones and sick ones. If humans were like cats, then there would be no flaw in that logic, but humans are not like cats. Humans are fundamentally different; they get very weak as they get older and they even become ‘dumb’; no human can avoid that.
Politics, Healthcare | 27.11.2006 5:48 | 1 Comment
Some historians claim that John D. Rockefeller was the (financially) richest man ever lived. Others claim that one of Rothschild family members was the richest. Perhaps one of kings who lived in the medieval Europe was the richest man ever lived.
No matter who was (or is) the (financially) richest man ever lived, I wouldn’t call him/her the greatest human being ever lived. When I ask “Who was/is the greatest human being ever lived?”, I think of people like Gandhi and Mandela. Yet, honestly speaking, I often think about how much money I make, how much money I want to make and how much money other people make. I also measure “success” by the amount of money one accumulates, while I understand that “success” is not the result of “success”, but it is about the process in which one obtains “success”, which certainly cannot be measured monetarily. However, I cannot help measuring success, accomplishment, progress, etc. monetarily. After all, “money” is just a piece of paper, but I feel like it defines one’s life often. Why do I think like this? Did I take the blue pill?
This is one of many questions I ask occasionally to myself and to others. Generally speaking, many people respond in such a way that they believe in intrinsic value that cannot be measured monetarily. However, some respond and say that one’s financial wealth actually measures one’s intrinsic value. Also they appear to believe that
1. (Financial) Wealth is accumulated fairly; more specifically, (financial) wealth is created.
2. (Financial) Wealth is created in processes which valuable properties, assets and services are provided to many people by those who accumulate enormous (financial) wealth.
3. (Financial) Wealth is distributed fairly.
Amusing.
Ideology | 11.11.2006 6:36 | 1 Comment
Democrat Strickland wins Ohio governor race: MSNBC
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Democrat Ted Strickland defeated Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell in Ohio’s gubernatorial race, MSNBC projected Tuesday night. A lead issue in Ohio, home to old smoke-stack industries with political pull, is turning around the state’s fortunes. Strickland’s Turn Around Ohio plan aims to create and keep jobs by investing in energy production, entrepreneurship, education and health care.
Source
Here’s another report.
Democrats take Ohio as 36 states pick governors
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Voters in Ohio elected a Democrat as governor for the first time in 16 years on Tuesday, taking one of several states destined to be key battlegrounds in the 2008 presidential race.
Ted Strickland, a six-term U.S. congressman and Methodist minister, beat Kenneth Blackwell, the Ohio secretary of state, network projections said. It was the first of three dozen governorship contests decided.
Ohio played a decisive role in the 2004 race for the White House and appears likely to do so again in two years.
Source
We’ll see if this will actually be the final result.
Politics | 7.11.2006 19:28 | 2 Comments
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote an article on 2004 Election a while back; the article is titled “Was the 2004 Election Stolen?” He also wrote a kind of follow up article; the article is titled “Will The Next Election be Hacked” It’s no doubt that he’s a Democrat, and he generally takes the side of Democrats. For example, while he criticizes the current voting problem, he rarely discusses JFK’s election story. That being said, these two are well-written articles, and he backs up his claim by referencing numerous sources. Also the voting problem has been reportedly pretty widely by independent media and foreign media outlets such as BBC. It is quite clear that the current voting system is a fraudulent system; in particular, voting machines do not deliver any reliable result. It’s not an exaggeration to say that voting machines are designed to disenfranchise all voters. Even some in the major media mentioned about the problem of voting machines recently. However, there is something peculiar about this election. In 2000, 2002 and 2004 elections, major media outlets essentially accepted results of three elections without mentioning about any major election fraud, and they also never really predicted any favorable outcome for Democrats prior to elections. Many of major media outlets are predicting a favorable outcome for Democrats this time. It’s a bizarre behavior. If history tells us anything, this election will be disenfranchised again, and it is likely that Republicans are going to win enough seats both in the Congress and in the Senate to keep their control. Why are many of major media outlets predicting a favorable outcome for Democrats this time? Puzzling.
Politics | 7.11.2006 6:17 | No Comments
Today is Election Day, but I cannot think of anything profound to say (yet). But I remember something I need to say about. I criticized Alex Jones about a month ago.
I’m a fan of Alex Jones, but I resent his latest predication about another major attack. Here are a couple of facts:
- Who will benefit if another attack takes place? Republicans, in particular, core members of the current administration who want to hand out executive power to the President (and the defense industry complex).- Alex Jones will benefit as well. Why not? This will give him a lot of credibility, right? His radio will probably become much more popular and he can sell more DVDs.
- Fearmongering works. I am writing about Alex Jones here right now after all, and this is a good marketing for him (It’s not that I mind giving him free publicity, but I feel a bit conflicted in this instance).
…
Alex Jones’ latest predication about another major attack
Alex Jones predicted that another major attack would take place in early October, if not, in late October; it didn’t happen. So, we know that Alex Jones was totally off. Technically speaking, his speaking out might have prevented another attack; I personally doubt it. I think that it was a stunt; I’d even call his fearmongering a “disease”. I actually still listen to his radio program; I am also glad that his documentary “TerrorStorm” is selling well. According to Amazon.com, “TerrorStorm” is ranked at #3 or #4 in the list of bestselling DVDs in documentary; it’s ranked at #70 or so in the list of bestselling DVDs in all genres; it’s quite impressive. However, I am still disappointed at what he did a month ago. It was just fearmongering to get publicity, fearmongering to sell DVDs or both.
Alex Jones | 7.11.2006 5:23 | No Comments
Beyond Konspiracy is a part of the network supported by Watanabe Web Publishing, LLC, which is a Delaware company (a US company). However, I am currently incorporating its whole subsidiary in India for me to move there, set up an office and operate from there for variety of reasons; there are number of business reasons why I decided to do this, but there are also personal reasons. I went to visit India this April, and I started looking into the possibility of incorporating in India shortly after the visit. I decided to incorporate in India and started working on its paperwork more than a couple of months ago, but it hasn’t been completed yet. I have to admit that I didn’t do my best to speed up the incorporation process retrospectively speaking, but incorporating in India is so much more complicated than incorporating in US. Thomas Friedman wrote the book “The World is Flat”, but as far as my experience is concerned, the world isn’t exactly flat yet. In particular, it takes a lot of time and effort to get various permits such as the permit to start a business and the permit to live legally as a foreigner; it’s stifling. Also it actually costs some money. On one hand, I am pretty excited about incorporating in India, but on the other hand, I feel a bit tired of going through its paperwork; I feel a bit anxious as well.
India, Business (India) | 7.11.2006 4:46 | No Comments
I like looking up quotes by wise men and women and powerful men and women including those who terrorized the world like Nazis. Those quotes often amaze me, but there is one quote that I want to mention here.
“None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I think that this is one of the most relevant quotes today, if not, the most relevant.
Politics | 1.11.2006 2:23 | No Comments
New World Order
New World Order (Novus Ordo Mundi) refers to a conspiracy theory in which a powerful and secretive group (Illuminati, Freemasons, etc.) has created a secret plan to eventually rule the world via a unitary (as opposed to federal) world government.
The Basics
New world order is an integrative millenarian conspiracy theory that appears in both religious and secular versions. It emerged as a combination, and recombination, of the reaction by fundamentalist Christian eschatology to New Age ideas, with the long-standing disposition to blame conspiracies for shifting social inequities.
Many believe the idea of the “new world order” originated in the early 1900s with Cecil Rhodes, who advocated that the British Empire and the United States should jointly impose a Federal World Government (with of course English as the official language) to bring about lasting world peace. Lionel Curtis, who also believed in this idea, founded the Rhodes-Milner Round Table Groups in 1909, which led to the establishment of the British based Royal Institute for International Affairs in 1919 and the U.S. based Council on Foreign Relations in 1920. The concept was further developed by Edward M. House, a close advisor to Woodrow Wilson during the negotiations to set up the League of Nations (it is unclear whether it was House or Wilson who invented the actual phrase). Another important influence was the futurist H.G. Wells, a vigorous advocate for World Government.There is a prediction that the next major historical world upheaval will emerge from the worldwide web.As a sign of the growing influence of the worldwide web in the human civilization today, a group of advocates from different parts of the world, adhering to The Globalist Manifesto, are snowballing the formation of a global political party of selected individuals for the formation of a global government.This party may or may not be influenced by “conspirators”. Their websites had been rating in the top 10 of the Yahoo and Alta Vista search engines under the topic of “formation of global government”. Some of their websites were also in the top ten in the Google search.
Elements of the conspiracy theory are present in the populism of the nineteenth century. The theories in their present form can be traced to the collapse of Soviet Communism and President George H. W. Bush’s new world order speech of 11 September 1991. In it he described the United States’ objectives for post-cold-war cooperation with the former Soviet Union, using the phrase “new world order.”
In new world order conspiracy theories, many things significant are caused by a powerful secret group. Historical and current events are seen as steps in an on-going plot to rule the world or implement an age of reason.
Supporters of this theory can say to a certain degree who is part of it. Nobody can determine who isn’t part of the NWO. Most prominent families such as the Rothschild Family, Rockefeller Family, Morgans, Kissingers, Schroders, and DuPonts, as well as European monarchs, are said to be important members. The theory claims that virtually all important persons of the international world of banking, commerce, arts, entertainment, and mass media are involved.
International organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, European Union, the United States, the United Nations and NATO are often listed as core NWO organizations. Presidents and prime ministers of nations are routinely included in this huge conspiracy. A slightly different version of the NWO conspiracy theory goes as far as saying that these families and persons are all part of the same bloodline. Though there are many internet sites and books that present many ideas as factual, scant evidence to support many such claims exist. This is seen to fuel some NWO conspiracy theory because some conspiracists may see this lack of evidence as proof of organized “truth suppression”.
Additional information about New World Order at Wikipedia
New World Order is a pretty well-constructed conspiracy theory. As a matter of fact, it makes number of legitimate and sound claims. For example, there aren’t that many differences between Democrats and Republicans. If you compare two parties today, there are actually differences, but if you observe two parties over a period of time, you do not find that many differences. It’s almost like these two are two sides of the same coin AND they change sides from time to time. Both parties tax (average) Americans more and more, and this is pretty consistent. Inflation is persistent, and the value of dollar keeps depreciating; this is pretty consistent also. This also creates the environment that those who own assets, i.e., those who can generate income without working for it can manage to stay where they are or manage to acquire more assets, while those who do not own assets become poorer and poorer. United States would become a controlled state as a result, and this would establish a part of New World Order. There are many more examples.
However, there is a puzzling element if you do not believe in a monolithic religion such as Christianity. Rothschild Family is often mentioned in New World Order, but all family members are mere mortals after all. They live and die. Not one of family members can live for thousands of years. Death is a certainty, though tax might not be a certainty to them. Every single family member has individual mind, and it is impossible to imagine that all family members starting from Mayer Amschel Rothschild believe in New World Order, and they all try to establish New World Order. But this is when you have to wonder about the existence of Devil, immortal Devil. If you believe that Devil exists, then New World Order conspiracy starts making sense; the fact that a Rothschild family member or anyone who tries to establish New World Order has a limited life expectancy becomes irrelevant. In other words, New World Order makes you believe in God and (Devil).
I guess that this is why a deeply religious person like David Rivera discusses New World Order. Alex Jones is also another person who discusses New World Order; in fact, his radio show is pretty much all about New World Order. From what I read, he is also very religious.
Does God really exist? Is New World Order really lead by Devil?
My take on this is that New World Order is a pretty well-constructed conspiracy theory. Certain interpretations of New World Order sound rather kooky, but generally speaking, it’s not an outrageous conspiracy; it makes many valid claims. The over all conspiracy theory should not be dismissed as another “kooky” conspiracy theory in my opinion. However, I am not 100% sure if this proves or disproves the existence of God and Devil. Atheists seem to be able to explain every subject, and my guess is that one or more of Atheists can also explain New World Order without believing in God or Devil; they can probably explain New World Order scientifically.
Politics, New World Order | 1.11.2006 1:58 | No Comments