The sacred right to choose

There's a scene in the matrix where it is mentioned that when the matrix' subjects are denied the right to choose, the whole system fails. This touches on a great truth - without the right to choose, you see yourself as captive and the governing system will fail. This is because all such systems rely on the subjects to subscribe to it, instead of being overtly controlled by it. A subtle shift in perception, but one that is a crucial psychological mechanism.

With broom in hand: the right to choose is the most basic right from which all others flow.

In the garden of eden the subjects were always able to choose to abandon the governing system. Similarly the concept of hell points to the right to choose - if you can't choose to be bad, you can't choose to be good, and God respects that fundamentally.

From a christian perspective, this is why it is wrong to deny people the right to apostasy, as is happening in Iran at the moment. But since deconstructive tools must fit the task it is probably not right to judge an islamic system by christian principles, so I guess that's the end of that.

In any case, if you're looking for the truth you will find it. Telling someone the truth is like telling a plant how to grow.

One egg per basket

Parents in china are protesting because their children died in the earthquake. While some believe they are protesting because the government used inferior materials and buildings collapsed, the real reason is far more disturbing. They are protesting because the government never told them that the one-child-per-family plan means that when that child dies at twelve, it changes to the no-child-per-family plan.

I think the propaganda that vilifies children like this is the greatest lie the 'controllers' have pushed on us. When your piggybank is full, does that mean you must stop saving? You'll never save a lot that way... surely the better immediate solution is a larger piggy? I maintain that we should expand the available space instead of limiting ourselves by way of the belief that an expanding frontier is an impossible goal. Bollocks to that, it's the will that is lacking. Everyone knows we could do grand things, but that the money and the mandate lies with those who have priorities that are NOT geared towards helping others, but rather towards helping themselves.

Tis better to have loved and lost? Well then tis better to die than never being born. Many would risk their lives on dangerous, grand endeavours. Bring it on!

The good and the bad

Things that have made me happy recently:

- a job well done
- walks with my boy on my back
- wheelies


Things that have pissed me off recently:

- emails that start with 'no'
- inconsequential reprimands in the light of extra effort
- boy-racing-in-a-corsa chavs that endanger my child's life (this could easily become a murder-1 scenario)

The number 9

Wow. Watched The Devil and Daniel Johnston... filled me with thoughts and feelings, mostly confusion and compassion. He's not the kind of guy you can just make your mind up about.

The guy touched the void and didn't have the instinct to draw the metaphorical hand away immediately... those profound truths can do some damage.

Tragedy is a word for bad things happening to people who have some good in them. Daniel is full of love, that's plain to see. It looks like he's running, but not to or away, just running. My hope is that he will find peace.

Happy holidays

Bananas are not the only fruit

"If all we ate was bananas, they wouldn't be around for very long."
- Oscar Wilde

No wonder petrol is getting more expensive: our vehicles all run from this single fuel source, and their energy is produced each through a single process. Are we just that happily underachieving, back-patting, unambitious?

Rat butt gum

"It's been an excellent year for rat butt flavoured gum - over 100 million people bought our product!"

What anonymous marketing dweeb doesn't say is that most people switched straight back to juicy fruit.

Such was my experience with Windows Vista. I am irked. I just switched back at the cost of an entire day. I'll say this: if you think you can install XP alongside Vista and have a dual boot setup, think again. One drive, one OS, that's my philosophy :)

I'm really happy to be back on XP though. Vista looks much nicer, no-one can argue with that. And once you get used to it, the Windows Explorer is much better than the old one. However, the same file copy operation takes 2 minutes in XP instead of over an hour in Vista! If you look at what people are saying online I'm not the only one who is, shall we say, 'uncomfortable with this feature'.

All the little things aside the great big slobbering Irk is this: Micro$oft spent years developing Vista, and this is what they came up with. It's shameful. I hope that when a really important tendership is offered this ridiculous company will not be considered to participate in any way other than to pencil the EULA.

Would you want to see a Micro$oft badge on your life support system?