Ethics and Morality

Gamer - Widescreen Subtitle AC3 Dolby Dts Reality and video games merge in this high-concept sci-fi action thriller from Crank creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. In the not too distant future, mind-control technology allows humans to control the actions and movements of other humans, allowing reclusive billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) to create the ultimate video game. It's called "Slayers," and it's a mass-scale, multiplayer online first-person shooter that's as controversial as it is popular. In the world of gamers, Simon (Logan Lerman) is a rock star; miraculously managing to keep his character alive week after week, he racks up frags like Billy Mitchell jumps barrels. But unlike Mitchell's Mario, Simon's video-game avatar is a living, breathing human being named Kable (Gerard Butler). Defying the odds to keep Kable running and gunning though even the most explosive battles, Simon captures the imagination of a global audience. Torn from his family, thrown into prison, and forced to fight against his will, Kable realizes that his only hope of ever seeing his family again is to somehow escape the game, reclaim his identity, and expose Castle's dehumanizing technology on live television. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Art is a reflection of life. I recently watched Gamer, a movie and piece of art reflecting the human condition.  The movie, like Golding's Lord of the Flies explores the relationship between the realms of beasts and higher life-forms, or more appropriately the struggle all humans have with being both beasts and higher life-forms.

Golding guides the reader through this struggle by transporting the reader to a mysterious island untouched by such concepts as ethics and morality, good and evil.  Some of the boys escape reality by donning masks - a disconnect between the id and super-ego.  Let us assume for my purposes that the super-ego is established through socialization rather than some inherent or God-given quality.  Although I believe that socialization is a God-given instrument designed for the sole purpose of developing the individual super-ego.

Gamer examines the internal human battle through the use of games, ever-evolving real-world fantasies accessible to all rather than an individual dream-scape of ink and paper, finite and dated.  I speculate that the game World of Warcraft generates more revenue in one year than Lord of the Flies has produced since it's first printing.

The success of games is that they provide the opportunity to escape the real world and live vicariously through an virtual persona. This persona, I believe, is an accurate depiction of an individual's id. Since the gaming community, particularly RPG's and MMO's (and, of course, MMORPG's), accepts and embraces both good and evil the id is allowed to romp freely.

The Sim's 3 is a game available today in which the player maintains a virtual person in every aspect of human life from where they live to what they eat, when they shower, what they wear, and with whom they mate.  What if these people were real, not a series of 1's and 0's processed by a complex machine?  Gamer explores this very concept.

In the movie a player controls all actions of a real person who has voluntarily traded his/her civil liberties for money and literally mindless slavery.  The players in the movie are responsible for maintaining their playee much like The Sims 3.  The writer/directors of Gamer, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, delve into the consequences of freeing the id as the players delve into despicable depths of depravity in a world where real and virtual have lost meaning.  The "real" people are virtual sociopaths restricted to the confines of their audio-visual cocoons whereas the real virtual people are condemned to continuous drugs, sex, and violence in the actual sunshine world only to be relieved when the "real" people should rest due to exhaustion and/or boredom.  This is what I found disturbing.

How long until human fantasies become realities?  I'm not referring to deep space exploration and genetic manipulation - those are technological possibilities.  I mean how long before the laud of life and liberty are lost, and we embrace the cocoon of the machine?

-Kyle Warren
10/25/2010

eFoods Direct

A while back I did some reviews of a sample sent to me from eFoods Direct (eFoodsdirect.com - Long term storable food!).  The reviews were posted on a blog/website concept I was trying out.  I didn't think the money I was paying was worth it, so I ended that project.  I didn't backup the entries, so I lost all the reviews.

I bring that up because I want to share some free food with you.  eFoods Direct will send you a free sample pack.  Click any of the links here and click "Taste it" on the home page.  You'll get some meals such as those listed here.  It's been quite a while since we tried the sample pack, so I'll post the pics and give a brief review as I remember it.

 I'm not a fan of dried bananas, but these were really good.  Dried pineapple and mango are awesome.  The soup was good though somewhat silty.  Considering that this meal can be stored for five years and the only step in preparation was to boil water this soup made for a good meal.

The creamy potato soup was 100% awesome.  This is a meal that I'll order simply to have on hand in a pinch when the cooler weather comes around.  If you've got some bacon and butter you're in for a treat.

If you have a pot, some water, and an energy source you can prepare a hearty meal for your family that is nutritious, filling, and simple.

The money shot.  I almost always enjoy soup more with crackers or bread, but I was pleased to eat this soup alone.  Since I plan on having this on hand for an emergency it's comforting to know that I'll have foods around that won't require items which may not be available in an emergency.

There was another meal that I have completely forgotten about except that once again I was surprised how good it was.

The foods prepared by eFoods Direct (Get your supply of storable food at eFoodsDirect.com!) are all vegetarian (so as to be easier on the digestion in a potentially stressful environment) and made with high quality ingredients.

Why am I interested in storable foods?

1) Cash, even gold, will be useless in an emergency.  Food (and water) will be more valuable than diamonds.
2) Taxes can kill, but food, or lack thereof, will do it quicker.
3) Our farms are homogeneous to the point where a single virus could destroy entire food supplies.
4) In a dying, stagnant, recovering, whatever it is economy like we have now there are no guarantees that our jobs will continue to exist.  Most people I know will go bankrupt in two months should they lost their jobs.  Bankruptcy is one thing, but hungry children is another.

How many Katrina victims could have survived if they had adequate water and food supplies?  I'm not Mormon, but I think they've got the right idea about being prepared for the worst.  That said, check out eFoods Direct and order a sample pack.  At the very least you'll get some free food - the best kind.

Samsung Intercept

Samsung Intercept

So part of working for Best Buy Mobile is getting sweet deals from the carriers. Recently I got deal from Sprint that included a Samsung Intercept (Samsung Intercept Mobile Phone - Gray Steel). Coming from an older Windows Mobile Phone (AT&T Tilt) I am really pleased with the abilities and speed of the Intercept. Being that this is an entry level Android unit (and I got it virtually free) I really can't complain that it gets a little sluggish when there are more than 10 apps running!

Xentris Window Mount

One of the things I really like is the Google Maps Navigator Beta. This nav system is absolutely free but performs almost as well as a Garmin or Tom Tom. Considering the price difference and convenience of not having to carry around multiple devices, the Google navigator is probably going to destroy the GPS manufacturers. To compliment my new phone and safely use the navigator I picked up a windshield cell phone mount (Xentris Wireless Vehicle Windshield Mount for Mobile Devices - Black). The pic here is of the vent mount unit, but the link and purchase info is for the windshield/dash mount.

V-MODA Faze

While I really enjoy my Motorolla Bluetooth set (Motorola S9HD Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Headphones - Black), I find myself forgetting to charge them. They've never fallen off while running or mowing, and they've got incredible sound quality. But if they're not charged up they don't make any sound at all. To compliment my S9HD I picked up a the V-MODA Faze (V-MODA Faze Headset for Apple iPod and iPhone). So far I've been pretty happy with them. Sound is good (not as good as the S9HD, but they're also half the price), and I've had no complaints from people I've called. Driving is safer and more comfortable with the S9HD especially when using the windshield mount, but overall the Faze is worth the money in my book.

Other things to consider if you're picking up a Samsung Intercept:
1) INDISPENSABLE - ZAGG InvisibleSHIELD for Samsung Intercept Mobile Phones - Clear  If you have a touchscreen phone of any sort you must get a Zagg Invisible Shield.  At work we've taken our keys and smashed them into the Zagg shield to no effect.  One of my guys had a customer that accidentally dripped solder on his phone.  The Zagg shield was ruined, but the phone had zero damage.  Now I don't recommend that anyone try to damage their Zagg shield, but if you want protection for your screen that will outlive the phone itself, the Zagg Invisible Shield is the way to go.  Your local Best Buy Mobile will install these for a fee.  They're like window tint, so if you want to save yourself the time and money have them install it for you.


2) Rocketfish Mobile Snap-On Case for Samsung Intercept Mobile Phones - Black Matte also in Blue

3) INDISPENSABLE apps: M:iQ (in your phone's browser type in "m.miqlive.com")and Advanced Task Killer (download from your Android Market)

M:iQ is kind of like Mobile Me, but for free. You can back up your pics, vids, calendar, contacts, etc. and access it anywhere you can get online.

Advanced Task Killer (often called ATK) is necessary because Android apps don't usually turn off when you exit them.  When you hit your home button the app continues to run in the background, killing your battery life and possibly your data plan.  ATK, as the name implies, kills apps.  You can set which apps are to be left running and kill the rest.

An argument for gun control

We should exercise greater control of our guns (the title is obviously a play on words).  Once the scaredy-cats learn feel comfortable with the fact that gun-carrying citizens are as accurate in judgment as they are with a firearm it shouldn't be hard to convince everyone that it is right and proper to provide citizens with a means to defend against attackers. After all, it is the fear of what people do with guns that leads to the desire to limit who can or cannot own/carry a firearm.

It doesn't get much better than this

I just grilled a rib-eye so perfect I nearly teared up as I was eating it.  It was expertly seared so that the inside was red as a tree frog's eye, but the blood was cooked to clear juice and infused with the stuff of rich Texas mesquite.  I almost couldn't eat it.


Add in some fresh HEB French-like bread , Ranch Style beans with sweet onion, and cold Miller Lite, and you get the meal that caused the shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept."


Did I mention that I'm wearing my boots and talking like the What-a-burger dude?  (I called Tiff "Darlin'")  I swear the ground on which I walk melds with my being and produces the deepest tones.

Against the Grain

For whatever reason, I've always found myself at odds with the establishment. It's not that I'm just an immature, uncooperative punk, but it may seem that way. One of my core beliefs is that improvement is always possible. How can you improve something if you don't challenge it?

Many people adhere to the whole "if it aint broke, don't fix it" philosophy, but it precludes that one can perceive if something is broken. For example, throw ethics out the window and look at slavery in the preindustrial USA. It was accepted that slavery was the best way to provide affordable goods and services. It wasn't broke, so there was no reason to fix it. But then some very smart people realized (this is the condensed version, btw) that machines can work longer and harder than people, so slavery magically became "broke" - and machines fixed it. However, note that machines fixed the system before it was broken.  Businesses that chose not use machines were destroyed by those that did.

How would you feel about your government if you've got a musket with bayonet, a sack of black powder, and some lead while your the enemy has high-velocity rifles, semi-auto hand guns, and a combat knife.  You've got cannons; they have Gatling guns.  You've got cavalry, and they're giving you the finger in their tanks.  Sound ridiculous?  That was reality for the Polish army in WWI.  Yeah, Poland fell fast and hard.

Take a look at our economic problems.  If we were constantly evolving our views and practices on banking and business we probably would have avoided the whole economic collapse.  However, our current system is a reactionary system in an impossible fight against a proactive business world.  Why is it that the government can spend so many trillions of dollars on various things like war and social programs, but when our heart and soul (our businesses) comes to a halt everyone scratches their head and acts like our laws of physics have just been broken.

In case you didn't know, our laws of physics are constantly being broken.  This is because as we learn more and more we begin to comprehend how our "laws" are merely "perceptions."   Take for example when it was discovered that light does in fact have mass.  This blew out our preconceptions of the universe and rewrote physics.

What I'm getting at is that just because a system is in place does not mean that it is incapable of increasing efficiency.  So many people I know would say, "My way of life is the way my parents lived, and their parents, and their parents, and it works."  Okay, but couldn't things be better?

Look at research on behavior modification.  We have discovered that rewarding people (kids, adults, seniors) for good behavior produces better results than punishment for bad behavior.  Why?  Because punishment teaches the punished that they should avoid getting caught where rewarding makes the rewarded seek their prize.  If you are actively trying to be good, you'll have a better chance of others thinking you're good than if you're trying to fool them into thinking so.  So for thousands of years our race thought that imprisoning and beating people reformed them.  Guess what - thousands of years of human beliefs were wrong.

I'm not even really on the same topic as I started.  It's that good of a rant.

Anyway, there is a reason for my rhyme.  If I challenge you or your beliefs it is not to be a turd.  I'm exploring your opinion and comparing it to others.  What if my challenge strengthens your belief?  What if my challenge causes you to abandon your belief in favor of a newer/better one?  What if my challenge causes me to reevaluate my position?  Was it not a benefit to be challenged?  So when someone challenges you, don't get offended.  Instead, thank them for helping you.

Also, try out eFoods Direct (eFoodsDirect.com - An old, new way to eat!).  They've got great tasting, store-able food at great prices.

Commercial

Picture this:

Man is trimming his beard. It's a wonderful morning - he really loves trimming his beard. Woman comes in the bathroom and starts screaming and pointing at the sink:
white sink with jet-black hairs all over the place.

Woman storms out.

Man is having a bad day.

-----

Man gets home, and on the kitchen counter is a brand new razor water-proof trimmer for men.

-----

Next morning Man is shaving in the shower when Woman gets in, smiling seductively. (she has to be hot, BTW)

-----


Bam! Took me all of no seconds to make a better product with a better commercial. Notice to Gilette (or any other man-face company): if I see my commercial on TV or online I expect a check for no less than $10,000.

Induction

So I'm in Dallas this week for training in my job. So far I haven't learned anything. That means one of two things:

1) I'm awesome
2) I'm wasting company money

Personally I think it's #1. There are so many things we've covered that I've been doing already, and it makes me feel good about myself. It also makes me want to punch my coworkers when they ignore my suggestions.

Anyway, I'm fairly happy so far, but it's only day one. Tomorrow is another day.

Easy, Tasty, Cheap

No, this post is not about McDonalds or Taco Bell.  Rather this is a homemade meal that is nutritious, and, as the title suggests, easy, tasty, cheap.  It's an adaptation of one of my favorite meals: ramen with egg.

While lots of people dismiss ramen as poor-people food the fact remains that noodles are good whether they're in broth or sauce.  To prove that point here's a video of a ramen meal that is really good for you. If you've never tried ramen with an egg you're really missing out. When the yolk mixes into the broth it becomes really creamy.

Try it out and let me know what you think.

Burning Pile of Dumb

I like it how this guy doesn't answer any questions. He just affirms that the question was asked and goes on.  I have some questions/points I'd like to make.

1) How many followers of Islam will be converted by burning the Quran? Dumb!

2) Where are these Qurans coming from. If he's buying them that means the publishers will print even more to keep up with demand. Dumb!

3) While Mohammad was a violent war-chief in Medina his teachings while in Mecca were of peace, so if you claim that Islam is a brutal religion you must also claim that it is a peaceful religion as evidenced by the fact that only a couple million Muslims are violent brutes while the other hundreds of millions are normal, rational beings. Dumb!

If you want to subjectively analyze Christianity (or Judaism for that matter) you could just point to the Old Testament. The whole book is blood and guts. If the message of peace is ignored then Christianity can easily be portrayed as a radical, violent religion.

4) He says that Muslims are welcome but Islamic law is not. He may not be familiar with the Legislative branch of our fine American government. This video is probably on his educational level, so maybe it will clear things up:





5) "There are moderate Muslims, but there is no such thing as a moderate Islam." Is this like how a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is only sometimes a square?

6) If we don't stand up against Islam we're going to end up like Europe. Huh? What's wrong with Europe? Is the economic collapse of Greece the doing of Islam?

NON-SEQUITUR

I don't know. I just don't understand how a Christian church can really believe they displaying the teachings of Jesus in a violent promulgation such as burning a sacred text. I do understand why: these people are ignorant rednecks that need something to destroy because they are too lazy or too dumb to create something beautiful.  This points back to an earlier post about being armed to protect yourself against rednecks and zombies (they're sometimes confused - an easy mistake).

So there's my take on this Quran-burning crusade.  What's your input?

BOOTS!!

I've been denying my cultural heritage for a long time. I love boots. I grew up in boots, and maybe I'll die in boots. I was born in Texas, so it makes sense that I'd wear shoes from a Texan company. I say "y'all" and "darlin'," (and yes, that is proper punctuation) so I bought some boots today. I've almost worn through the sole of my Rockports, so it was simply time for new work shoes.

I'm not exactly looking forward to breaking them in tomorrow, but I'll look good doing it.  Next is finding a new belt and an angry eagle buckle.

Justin - Stampede Western (Black Deercow) - Footwear Zappos.com is proud to offer the Justin - Stampede Western (Black Deercow) - Footwear: You'll cause a wild ruckus of Western style with the sensational Stampede from Justin! ; Luxurious leather uppers with an intricate stitch design. ; Single stitched black welt. ; J-Flex Flexible Comfort System makes these the most comfortable boots around. The triple density insole board creates unbelievable energy return for long lasting comfort. ; Removable orthotic insert with Justin's Foot Stabilization insert technology uses dual density medical memory foam to stabilize the foot while still allowing it to move as needed. ; Technical Western rubber outsole with teak insets. ; 1 1/2 heel. ; 12.50 shaft height. ; 15.00 circumference. ; 23.00 oz. ; Product measurements were taken using size 7. Please note that measurements may vary by size.

Women's Sexual Problems

Check out this article on CNN. Apparently the stereotype that women don't want/enjoy sex is big enough to warrant a study by British doctors. The study was published in a journal of the The British Association of Urological Surgeons according to the article on CNN.

Interestingly the FDA has killed two potential drugs that were developed to spark the female libido. What does the FDA have against women?

Now I'm not one to recommend taking unnecessary drugs. In fact I recommend against taking drugs of any sort aside from antibiotics when you've got a serious bacterial infection and getting your vaccines. However, if an herbal supplement could help people enjoy life a little more then I'm all for it. Apparently the FDA doesn't care either way.

I threw up and giggled

Surprised

So today I was fairly surprised that no one came in to ask about the Captivate - Samsung's new phone and AT&T's direct competitor with Motorola DROID X Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)
and Evo...aside from the iPhone.

If someone had told me that we'd see a cell phone with an on-board GPU I'd have said, "Yeah right. Maybe in a couple years." Anyway, it's just odd that I didn't have a single person ask about it today.

Samsung Captivate Mobile Phone - Black This mobile phone features a 5.0MP digital camera with high-definition video recording up to 720p resolution for capturing quality images and live footage on the go. The Android 2.1 operating system ensures a clear connection during calls.

HTC EVO 4G Mobile Phone - White This 4G phone offers a rich mobile Internet experience with a fully integrated suite of services built on the Android 2.1 platform. It operates on 3G and 4G networks and features a large touch screen, blazing-fast processor, two cameras, mobile hotspot capability and more.

Done with Chase

Several years ago Tiff and I closed our account with Texas Bank (probably my best banking experience) and opened accounts with Washington Mutual. Then our government decided to give our tax money money to J.P. Morgan for free. J.P. Morgan used it to buy my bank and switch it to Chase. Six months later...I'm done with Chase.

Reasons I likes WaMu:
People were really friendly and helpful
Free coffee in the lobby
Convenient locations (when we lived in Austin)

Reasons Chase sucks:
People are stuck-up jerks
Color scheme is bland and unimaginative
Located in your local economy-crushing disaster: Walmart

I have enough trouble managing my weight as it is; I don't need to be breathing red-neck fat spores every time I deposit a check. And what makes those Chase tellers to stuck-up? I mean, they work in a Walmart - if it was in Nordstom I'd understand, but Walmart? How Walmart Is Destroying America (And the World): And What You Can Do about It

Anyway, aside from Texas Bank our best experiences have been with credit unions. Any suggestions? Right now we're looking at Genco and C-T.

aciremA fo setatS detinU: a story of backwardsness

Once upon a time in a land not far away there lived a people that valued hard work, individuality, and giving the finger to everyone else, especially Europe. This people's "rugged individualism" erected a nation more powerful and prosperous than the universe had ever known. Outsiders were welcome to come and participate in the greatest experiment of all time. Common sense and justice ruled the day.

Over time the people lost their common sense. Maybe it was a side-effect of the experiment, or maybe it was the water. No one knows.

What is known is that common sense is the opposite of law, and when people can't use their common sense lawyers can be seen on the prowl.

Lawyers came popping up from everywhere. They seemed to sprout from the earth.

The lawyers, having no common sense, could not understand how to function in society, so they made laws to define what they could or could not do. This made sure that people with common sense were safe from those without it.

But then one day the lawyers realized that they could control everything with their rules. They could already dictate what kind of animals lived where and if a certain person could or could not grow any certain thing or exist at any certain location.

And then it happened! The lawyers decided that outsiders were not welcome anymore. You see outsiders are outside of the law, and lawyers cannot fathom what is beyond the law.

Something had to be done, so all the people in the land that lacked common sense got together to work out a solution. Some painted themselves blue or red to show support for their favorite lawyer. Some people ranted and cursed the outsiders. Some people were completely oblivious and kept watching American Idol.

The people with common sense are puzzled by the whole situation. They sit by wandering what all the fuss is about, waiting for the lawyers to define this thing that they can't define.

(to be continued)

Zombieland

When the zombies come, I'm going to take care of business with a 12 gauge and maybe a machete. Sledgehammers and baseball bats and banjos are for red-necks. Here's a really affordable shotgun that you should pick up if you don't have some kind of weapon to protect your home from zombies or red-necks.



On a side-note I have a list of things I think everyone should carry everyday. Check out my store for some of my favorite things.

I've also made several selections for emergency preparedness, food storage, and biological threats.

Let me know your thoughts.

I'm back

It was a good run, but todayinbrief.com was a waste. So, I'm back to blogger.

Tiff's been working up recipes for meals that cost less than $2 per person. She's planning on sharing our adventures into chinchiness, so keep an eye out for her blog coming soon.

New Blog

I'll be keeping tabs in two locations for a while:
here
and
TodayInBrief.com

Right now TodayInBrief is just a test. If I like it more then you'll see me phase out this account.

Why switch to a different system?

I want more control over what goes where and how. It's as simple as that.

Noah's Ark

There have been numerous search parties that have found Noah's Ark. What is interesting to me here is not that it was found (again), but that there are so many mountains with 4,000 year old boats on them.

Just by the fact that these boats are 4,000 years old pretty much blows the idea that the universe was created 4,000 years ago - aimed at my fundamentalist friends.


Anyway, the question I have is what happened 4k years ago that: 1) made people decide to build boats on top of mountains and/or 2) how many people besides Noah survived the great flood. I've seen scientific representations of how the great flood happened (which I find plausible) where Pangea begins to break apart and the resulting fissures release subterranean waters, the weight of Pangea being so great that water fires off into the sky for approximately 40 days. I like that, it's almost sexy. The problem here is Pangea, I mean PANGEA!! We're not talking about ancient times but pre-historic times. We have fossils that date back 400-500 million years but not random wooden structures which can be assumed to be boats.

I don't know; I guess I'm just sceptical about these things. I alway wonder what the point of having proof is...well I know why people need proof; I just wonder why anyone's faith can be so weak that they need proof. This extends to The Bible - who cares if it is to be taken literally or was written by God itself. If your faith is based on the validity of a stack of paper then your faith is only as strong as that stack of paper...or it's validity. Since things like The Bible simply can't be validated you get nuts weak on faith tramping through the mountains to find boats that don't exist.
People Search
I guess if your the kind of person that needs physical tokens of your faith then people finding the ark or some ancient scrolls is awesome for your spirituality, but I have to ask:
is this strengthening your faith or are you strengthening your faith in your beliefs?

New Project

So I've been pouring hour after hour into my new prodject. It's beginning to get tiresome.

Busy Busy

I've been a busy, busy bumblebee.

Check out one of my projects: Hyptronics.com

While I'm working at home I have at least three things going at once, sometime more:
explorer - website design, adsense, amazon affilate, online email, misc. other marketing sites
chrome - streaming netflix, random interesting sites, website test, facebook
firefox - website test
open office writer - scripts for banners, articles
thunderbird - monitor four email accounts

You get the idea. Anyway, I started with the first episode of The X Files and thought back to the good old days when it was on the air. I think back about how watching TV even back then was a family thing which emphasizes the disconnect today: here I am doing all I'm doing while Tiff's doing what she's doing. I realized that I can't just watch a movie or just eat dinner.

Makes you wonder about way back, like in the 20's. What was it like then? It's no wonder that people seemed more intelligent or purposeful - they weren't pulled fifteen different ways. At the same time, however, your average office worker must have been retarded inefficient....

It makes you wonder whether we're on the right track as a species or if we took a wrong turn in Albuquerque.

Disgusting

Usually I'm able to think like Google and get what I want on the first search. Sometimes it takes two, but that's only if I'm looking for something fairly obscure. Today, however, I was completely blown away by the results I got.

I might get 3-4 hours that I can spend with my daughter in a week, but I'm usually so tired from work that I just go through the motions with her. I have today off, so I kept her from preschool to really get some quality time in. To get some ideas on what a daddy can do with a toddler I did a search for "daddy daughter" thinking that I'd get some pretty general results from parenting websites or books like this one or even something a little off. In actuallity I got some very specific results about a very specific "daddy daughter" activity...I'm not very impressed with the human race.

Google is able to gauge what we value as a society and give us results based on those values, so basically our society is more interested in a Freudian father-daughter relationship than a healthy one.

I'm not even unimpressed as much as disgusted.

Weird

Oh man, I'm really finding some weird stuff lately. Check this out:

Conversational Hypnosis

What happened to good old GHB? Wow, that's horrible, shouldn't have said that.

Holistic Pregnancy

You know you just have to wonder about weird stuff like holistic infertility treatment. Take these for example:

Pregnancy Miracle: Holistic and Ancient Chinese System for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Children

7 Mistakes Report

I mean, it looks like they're preying on the poor infertile women clinging to every possible shred of hope possible.

More BS (cont'd)

What makes this whole CHIP ordeal absolutely retarded is that if anyone from Superior, Seton, CHIP, or the Texas Department of Health and Human Services had made one single phone call - ever - none of this would have happened. I bet ~$5 of our tax money was wasted on postage when a virtually free phone call would have nipped it all in the bud.

More BS

So today I have completely lost my faith in our government's ability to administer anything and by belief that doctors really mean it when they take an oath to do no harm.

Here's my experience with the CHIP issue today:

I started by calling the state human services people. After 30 minutes of refining the random info they could access I finally pieced together the fragments of Fall 2009:

1) CHIP began coverage through Superior on July 1, 2009.

2) Medicaid took it upon itself to "update" our address to our previous home on August 28, 2009. The CHIP rep could give no reason as to why Medicaid would "update" our address.

3) Since we were "living" outside Superior's coverage area we needed a different provider, and get this -> since all mail to our "new" address was returned a health plan was chosen for us. Notice any problems here? Anyway Superior ends September 30, 2009 & Seton begins October 1, 2009.

4) Since all mail is getting returned CHIP changes our address back to the "old" address - the correct one - and reprints/mails one solitary notice, mentioning how the state has decided to do whatever it wants without our consent or making us aware (paraphrased liberally). Additionally Seton is to mail us an ID card. This letter is dated October 1, 2009, and we didn't keep the envelope to verify the postmark. Two problems here: ID cards are sent to wrong address (and returned obviously), and now we're once again living outside of our provider's coverage area.

5) Sam gets sick,and on October 17, 2009 she spikes a 106 degree fever, resulting in a trip to the ER. We give the hospital her Superior ID card because that's what we have and what we think we have.

6) We get Sam's new ID card from Superior. You see CHIP changed us back without notice again after they "updated" our address.

7) We get a letter from the hospital about the claim being denied. Tiff pulls out the new ID card from Superior to update the account info.

8) We get another letter from the hospital about the claim - we make sure the info is correct again.

9) Time goes by. Then we get this letter from the collections agency demanding $467. I tell them I need to find out what's going on and call CHIP. About five hours later (five hours over three days) I've put together all the above.

10) By the way, the collections agency wants money for "physician services." All that talk with the hospital - yeah, different bill. Not only is it a different bill, but it's a bill we haven't even seen yet. We've been calling the hospital about a bill that's coming from a third party,and no one has caught on. I specifically asked the lady at the hospital if we were talking about the bill for $467 (that specific amount), and she said yes. What she should have said was, "No. The amount of your hospital bill is $1,004." Then I would have said to myself, "WTF!?! Something is amiss."

What's worse is we're being charged ~$1,500 total for a Nurse Practitioner to misdiagnose our daughter with the flu "by the look of her eyes" - she had an ear infection as correctly diagnosed by her pediatrician a week later. It seems to me if taxes are raised to support universal healthcare it's because of the greedy bastard hospitals like Memorial Hermann in Katy, TX...$1,500 for a pseudo-doctor to look at my daughter's eyes and request an xray. Do no harm? What a joke, if energy companies were raping people like Memorial Hermann is it would be all over the news like Enron. But the medical industry? No, medicine is for good....

Right now the bitterness is too great, so I'll have to finish this later.

BS

So Sam was on CHIP for 6 months last year. In that six month we had to take her for medical services once. The ER bill is now in collections because the hospital thinks we're trying to scam them with a false CHIP number because the provider keeps denying payment. I finally get through to a CHIP person who tells me that there was one single month where Sam's coverage was handled by a difference provider. Said provider didn't even notify us that they were covering her.

So I call the provider, and they say, "Sorry we aren't authorized to contact collectors without the parent present." I say, "I am the parent." Lady says, "Maybe, but your name isn't on the account. I can't do a conference call without the parent present.".....

That's what I call BS. A whole two hours of my day spent to be told that I might be my daughter's father, and that her medical coverage provider can't help anyone but her parents.

I don't see why anyone's worried about the healthcare bill. If this experience is anything like what will occur, there's nothing to worry about: people won't really get covered, so taxes shouldn't go up at all. Maybe this is why Medicare keeps going up and up, some providers actually pay?

I'm the King!!

Sam's finally taking a nap and Tiff just went off to nap too. I'm king of the house...quietly, lol. Thankfully I have my brand new wireless headset from Sony. They sound awesome!!

Veggie Tales vs. Disney

I'll never find the time for a good comparison, so I'll make it short.

I've noticed that religion-based stories frequently enforce the belief that one's parents are wiser and know what is best. Pop culture stories, however, frequently enforce the opposite. I realize that it's fun and healthy for kids to explore the fantasy where they are more knowledgeable and capable than their parents (they're role-playing as parents which is good), but don't Disney and Nickelodeon take this way too far?

It seems to me that in most pop shows out today portray all adults (and particularly parents) as bumbling fools where shows like

actually try to explain to kids that if they obey their parents everyone benefits.

I guess it just struck me suddenly how backwards our world seems at times.