“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”
Truer words were never spoken, it seems to me as of
late. Indeed it seems to me that we live in a world of
nothing but hatred and negativity, where no one
believes in anything greater than “what has gone
before” and that we are on a continuing Archimedian
spiral into the deepest alcoves of desperation. And
from my point of view, ultimately, to utter
destruction.
Maybe this will sound farcical or ridiculous, but it
is true, and I feel it with my entire being and soul,
nevertheless here it is: I love humanity to no end,
and wish I could somehow do whatever was necessary to
make the world the great place I was told in my
childhood that it eventually could become. I love the
world so bad it hurts, and as it is said, there is a
fine line between both love and hate, and genius and
insanity. The first two I’ve known well. The genius
part, well, I don’t know, but I have to wonder if I am
losing my mind slowly because of all this happening
around me. Someone once said that if you believe you
are going crazy, you aren’t. I don’t know if that is
true. So here’s a few things to think about; call them
a few of “my personal demons.”
1. Oil Crash. I don’t know if this is real or not.
There is so much lying and deception out there, so
many people with their own motives that who knows if
this is a real problem or not. This includes global
warming. If global warming is indeed real, and a
threat, then we should do something about it now. And
if some put-upon rich people and business moguls get
hurt in the process, well, that as they say is life.
Development of alternative energy sources which
actually WORK needs to be done immediately. If it be
cold fusion, space-based solar energy, thermonuclear
fusion, or whatever, then let it begin now. Not
tomorrow, not when it is affordable and good for the
economy, but NOW! If this is NOT real, if the peak oil
problem is a fiction, and there is no catastrophe in
sight, then of course we should still pursue
alternatives with vigor. It would give the nation, and
indeed, the world something to due rather than sit
around in relative boredom. I believe boredom breeds
warfare and unrest. People need obstacles to tackle
and things to do, otherwise we wither and become
depressed, and ultimately begin to hate each other. If
it turns out that global warming is not anywhere near
the severity as is proclaimed, then we need to have a
serious look at the EPA and its various machinations.
And make it a harsh look while we are at it. If it
turns out that the oil crisis (real or not) is an
engineered method for those in government set to
profit from it to increase profits, and for the
businessmen behind it to get richer while the rest of
us suffer for it, then I am at a loss to suggest a
solution. This is a crime that surpasses individual,
state or even national level. It is a crime against
the human race. For that crime, the punishment,
whatever it be, should be fierce and indeed so
terribly frightening that no one will ever dare to
repeat it again. Maybe that sounds harsh, but how else
can it ever be prevented again?
2. Cars. I don’t drive an SUV, in fact I don’t like
them at all, because they have a nice tendency to lose
control here in Buffalo, NY, during the snowy season,
and careen all over the road. I drive a 1990 Buick
Regal, which gets about 20mpg. Not great, but I can’t
afford a Prius, nor do I want one. They are
grotesquely ugly things, made of plastic which is sure
not going to win a collision with a larger vehicle,
and are extremely expensive to purchase and maintain.
No, hybrids are no option for us ‘little guys’. And a
European car? Forget it, I will never own one. If a
ball joint goes out in my car, I can get one for ~$15.
In a Mercedes-Benz? ~$250-300 apiece. I kid you not, I
am a mechanic who works on European cars all day long.
I have seen it, and it is outrageous. Jed, $4000 for a
valve job on a Volvo is pretty cheap. Try frying the
motor in a late-model Audi. Easy to do, as well: you
just don’t change the timing belt every 50,000 miles,
and the belt will snap, ramming the valves into the
tops of the pistons, shredding the motor. Many
kilobucks later, you are back on the road. Oh, and how
much does it cost to replace the timing belt every
50k? Upwards of $1,200 where I work, which is cheap as
I understand it. You have to remove the entire front
bumper and clip assembly, radiator, discharge the AC
condenser, etc., to get to the timing cover. You
literally have to disassemble the entire front end of
the car!!! All because some bespectacled idiot who
probably never got his hands greasy in his life
decided to design a “modern engine”. I rebuilt the 305
small block in my 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for less
than $1,000, and that includes the NEW carburetor, NEW
headers, NEW intake manifold, NEW HEI distributor,
wires, cap, rotor, plugs, oil, motor mounts, frame
pads, chrome air cleaner, chrome valve covers,
camshaft, lifters, piston rings (I got the good ones,
too), main/rod bearings, cam bearings. Everything.
Initially I got about 10-12mpg. By adjusting my
driving habits, modifying the timing profile, screwing
around with the plug electrodes, and doing a few
tricks to the carburetor, I was able to get 25mpg on
the interstate. In a 5.0L, non-emission controlled,
carbureted, no-nonsense motor. The emissions levels as
measured from the tailpipe(s) were not bad, in fact
they passed the federal standards. If I were to put
catalytic converters back on it, I would probably be
able to breathe the exhaust. I loved that car, and it
was cheap to work on and maintain. Regardless of its
mileage and low emissions levels, it is illegal for me
to drive it, since it will not pass inspection. Why?
The motor is 8 cylinders, as opposed to the original 6
cylinder which was in it when I got it. This tells me
something: whoever is behind the emissions program, at
least where I live, doesn’t give a damn about the
environment. They have their own reasons. And I
realize that 25mpg and just-below-federal emissions
are not the solution….but it sure is a step in the
right direction. And the thing has a steel body and
frame. If a Prius was on a collision course with me, I
can step on the gas and I will MOVE out of harm’s way.
And if the collision is unavoidable, well, let’s see
how Joe EPA’s Prius survives a close encounter with
3700+ pounds of steel.
3. Religion. I don’t know how many of you, my fellow
Vortexians, are religious. I would hazard to guess
several of you are atheists or agnostics. That is ok
by me. It is your choice. I, personally, do believe in
a higher power, the nature of which is probably
completely beyond conventional human understanding.
Yes, I call this power “God”. Not G-d. (Isn’t G-d
short for a “G**d***”?) If there are those out there
who are offended by my not abbreviating the term
“God”, then I am sorry, please get the hell (h-ll?)
over it. The same antigods who scream unendingly about
being offended by hearing religious remarks offend
quite a few people themselves with their endless
ranting. These babies need to grow up. Notice I said
“antigods” as opposed to atheists/agnostics. Most
atheists and agnostics I know do NOT take a harsh
exception to religious people at all. They just don’t
believe it, but are tolerate and accepting of another
person’s rights to believe what they want. I have many
friends who are atheist/agnostic. If they ask me
specifically what I believe, I tell them. Otherwise I
don’t try to cram it down their throat TV-evangelical
style. It is a sad and terrible thing that the
benevolent teachings of Jesus Christ are perverted by
modern people calling themselves “Christians.” It is
used to justify hate and malice. Why? In my
understanding, what Jesus Christ was teaching was
peace, love and to work together. Regardless of
whether or not you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew,
atheist, whatever, the message is a good one. As a few
last notes on this point: I do believe in evolution of
some kind, whether or not it is Darwinian remains to
be seen, in my opinion. I also believe the Earth is
about 4.6 billion years old, not 6,000. I get this
crammed down my throat by overly-fanatical religious
people all the time, they seem to think it is somehow
anti-Christian to believe in modern science. I find
that religion and science complement one another quite
well. So there is bad on both sides, and here I am
stuck in the middle. Hmmm…interesting thought: in a
previous post, it was argued that animals might see
what humans do to them as evil, and that an
extraterrestrial observer (the example used was a
Martian) might wonder whether or not what humans do to
one another is just natural or is evil. Can not this
be applied to the same antigod argument that a just
God would not allow death and pain? Think about this.
Maybe there are some animals who do not believe in
humans, because why would a higher power allow such
evil to happen to them?
4. Women. Every time I go to the store, what do I see
plastered all over the checkout aisles? No, not the
candy. Magazines. Do I ever see anything scientific?
Nope, its all “shrink your belly in 12.8 milliseconds”
or “lose 400 pounds in 8 hours!”. All these showing
women triumphantly holding out the elastic waistbands
of pants that are now too big for them. And the
magazines that do not show this invariably show an
emaciated-looking woman posing provocatively with very
little clothing. What does this say about our
society’s view of females? I try not to look at these
magazines, because I hate them. The message they are
sending is absolutely terrible and destructive to the
happiness and well-being of women, particularly young
teenage girls who become ingrained with the idea that
they have to look like that to make it in this world.
This should be a crime with a very harsh punishment. I
am a rather young man, young enough to still encounter
younger members of the opposite sex, particularly
those who are friends and acquaintances of my
wife-to-be. This is very real, and a real problem.
These girls and women truly believe that unless they
are absolutely the thinnest possible and still able to
be alive, that they are ugly. Why are we doing this to
the female members of our human race!?! Why are we
allowing these people to cause such mental pain and
misery in the minds of these women? No, I don’t
believe the fight for women’s rights won. From where I
am sitting, some battles may have been won, but it
lost overall. So many beautiful people, hurt by
something so unnatural and unrealistic. The fields in
which women work is also a sad thing. So few women
scientists. In my experience, women think differently
than men do. Would not science be better off if we had
a greater varieties of different-working minds looking
at the problems? It is getting better, yes. But there
is still a long way to go. This doesn’t need
government-aid or affirmative action either. It needs
something deeper.
5. Cold Fusion. I don’t know much about it,
truthfully, but from my limited understand, something
is going on which merits serious investigation. There
should be funding for this and active support for it
from university and governmental levels. The
quasi-evangelical hatred of this field by most of
mainstream science is deplorable. I hope I live to see
the day that it becomes known that there really was
something happening in those electrolysis cells of
glass and plastic. I hope that those who stood in its
way for so long are eventually forced to recant and
face the consequences of their actions. Indeed, I feel
that those in high-standing positions should be forced
resign and forever be reminded of their actions
against humankind as a whole. I hope that the effect,
whatever it is, can be quickly made into something
which will help people everywhere, not just here but
throughout the world. I hope………
6. The Dead. There is not much for me to say here….so
many great people dying. Why do so many wonderful
people die, and yet the worst elements of humanity
live on? How many brilliant minds have had their
Promethian flames extinguished by so little of things
as mere want of a piece of bread in Africa, or
Indochina? And yet here, in pampered comfort and
standing in the way of any hope or dream humanity
comes up with, forever cursing the dreams of those who
believe in reaching out to the stars for ALL mankind,
forever attacking those honest men and women
struggling with a potential energy source of untold
magnitude, here lives on the great Dr. Robert Park.
Apologies for the length and controversial nature. God
bless you all,
--Kyle
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