Ravings of a mad man.

I talked to a Somalian today.  I found out that there are still many people
dying over there daily to satisfy the whims of a couple of war lords.

I came to the conclusion that as an intelligent species we are the stupidest of races.  We can do so much with so little of what we have to help others, and we rarely do it.  I do it so rarely that I'm ashamed of the nice stuff I own.  The money that I have tied up in all the computers that I own would save the lives of hundreds of people, but all I want is the latest and newest.  Today I paid to bring 19 people from Somalia to Canada, but this isn't about patting me on the back.

I realized that Star Trek is right, you remember the episode where we are all described as virii?  It was right, we really are.  On the whole, we never think about others unless there is an impact on our own lives.  How selfish is that?
We worry about the price of oil, our investments and our families.  Now don't get me wrong, those are things worth worrying over, but we do so at the expense of others.

Then I started thinking about corporations.  Every day we pass new laws that hold them in less accountability, and give them more power.  We fine them a pittance for breaking the law, and they pay that willfully because they make far more profit by breaking the law that they are fined to pay.

We rape our planet and our fellow man for a profit.  The sad part is, next week I won't even think about this rant, or maybe it will be a fleeting thought.

Do your random act of kindness, help others that you wouldn't normally look at twice.  Prove me wrong.

Thank you for reading my rant, please, do something for others that I can't do.

[Moderator]

Youl'd be amazed at how one small person can change things...

I've always believed in this and it's a big part of how i live my life.

But you're right...it does seem overwhelming at times.

I don't give a carp...i just keep doing what i believe in.

Come on people now
smile on your brother
Everybody get together
try to love one another


By the way, how much did you pay to bring those folks to Canada? Will you be able to meet them?

I have already met them, through the son.  I get to meet them in person this week. 

It wasn't much, just two months wages, but that is not the point.  We could all do without 10% of our wages and make others lives better.

Good for you man.

I wish I could do something like that.

[Moderator]

You will be blessed...many times over.

let the holy lemonade washeth away your sins, and allow the great carrot to enter your thoughts, and bless you with images of pie.

As you can see i am a star trek fan or you reffering to the omega glory episode.

As you can see i am a star trek fan or you reffering to the omega glory episode.

Peace, and tranquility to you friend, and the great lawdrey.

Not quit sure what a great lawdrey is it only brings up 9 pages on a google search.

oh wait, I remembered it wrong, it was Landru, not lawdrey.

"Return of the Archons".

That's what i thought you meant. but wasn't sure. 

speaking of star trek here's my favorite episodes of the show
these or now free to watch on youtube cbs and veoh i think cbs  has the clearest picture i think

1 city on the edge of forever   

2 the ganster                                         
   
3 shore leave                   
 
4 this side of paradise                 

5 patterns of force                                   

6 assighnment                                           
 
7 the way to eden                                       

8 the naked time                                         
 
9 tommowow is yesterday                           

11 space seed   

12 emok time   

one way of going off-topic.

Wish I could say the same, Quantos.  I live in Malta, middle of Mediterranean sea, under italy.  During summer we get a LOT of illegal immigrants and our little island (of 500,000 if we are that many) just can't handle it.  There is some sort of EU complications too, to worsen the matter (burden sharing and all that).  But I double your statements

I came to the conclusion that as an intelligent species we are the stupidest of races.

.  We can do something about it and we don't.  Same thing as many other matters, poverty, disease, etc.

and again, bless you for your deed

Two-Eyes %

99.99% of people , do not help out , do not care for or about other people , they look out for them selves

first all the time . governments promise to help a lot but help a little . businesses rape and destroy countries

and then leave it when they are finished

the U.N helps with food etc where ever and when ever its needed governments have not paid the U.N what

they have to for many years

the end of my rant 

[Moderator]

99.99% of people , do not help out , do not care for or about other people , they look out for them selves

I couldn't disagree more...there are far more helping people out there than your stat says...

Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it doesn't happen a million times a day.

i know and i see help being given to people , we both do it as well , 1 million times a day is great and it do'es a lot but thats likely only .01% thats missing from my total

[Moderator]

Again i disagree...

Two-eyes, unfortunately that is a far more common occurence these days than we need.  There is too much disparity between the rich and the poor.  Yet again though this is caused by our own greed, perhaps not personal greed.  I'm referring more to greed that is fed by our way of life.

This brings up the nasty habit that corporations have of taking advantage of ALL PEOPLE, not just the poor in the regions that have a resource that the corporations wish to exploit.  Everyday our governments pass laws that make it easier for corporations to exploit individuals and groups of individuals, these laws also make it harder to hold these corporations to accountable for what they do and how they do it.

I personally find myself supporting these corporations with daily purchases, and my investments are getting hard to justify as well.  It's to the point where I could spend literally all of my time researching them and dealing only with responsible and accountable companies, but this is counter productive.  Unfortunately there is no one magical answer, but we do have to work harder to find one.

Whether we harass our elected officials to change legislation, or give up portions of our time and energy, or even just donate materials and money there is only one thing to remember.  If we despair and stop acting then we are no longer the solution, but the problem.

In the end, a lot of us don't do anything because either:
A. We're lazy
B. We don't want anything bad happening to us. ANYTHING

What we "define" by anything even includes really stupid things like not buying a new car every year and selling the old one at a fraction of the price.

Quantos, what you have done is noble and generous.  But there are still 9 million people left in Somalia living in poverty and in fear for their life's.

The mess is Somalia isn't the fault of greed corporations, but greedy war lords and an inept government.

Most people are good and decent people like you.  It's the very few that make it bad for others.

In the end, a lot of us don't do anything because either:

B. We don't want anything bad happening to us. ANYTHING

Can you explain this one?

What people don't realize is if all the worlds wealth was spread equally we'd all be living in poverty.

the only reason people in the more developed countries donate to these lesser countries is to make themselves feel better about having the luxuries they do. Although most don't give as much as Quantos did.

I think a bigger question is; how much if this actually GETS to the people in africa?


Lastly; what about the homeless people in our OWN country? Why pass that off as laziness and yet consider people you've never met, whose sole reason for over-population and disease is simply too much breeding as hard-working decent people? Surely, they are in reality sex maniacs who will screw anything and that's how so many of them- and their children - get HIV. How about instead of sending them money directly to these people; maybe analyze the very reasons they aren't getting the proper education that would  help them understand how to better themselves?

Case and point- the Somalian Warlords. This forms a government- a corrupt one. It's fully possible that the countries people could be making decent amounts based on the value of the products they process, but that these warlords are taking the excess for themselves (actually, not possible, definitely the case). therefore- the only conclusion would be to create a more stable, and less hostile government.

To make things even more interesting, the very concept of giving to Africa actually goes against democracy, since, the basic tenet is that people can do what they wish and reap the benefits of said choices; this is how we ignore the homeless people in our very own cities; "they had freedom of choice and chose drugs, or booze, or whatever"- but, is it not also true that the people in africa choose to breed like rabbits? "They are uneducated"... so, too, can our own homeless be, and although our countries provide free public education it's also true that not everybody is either above the poverty line in our own country nor grew up in circumstances that encourage learning. We are making assumptions based on the persons country of origin, and assuming that our democratic countries provide everything for everybody.

Can you explain this one?

We don't want anything bad to happen to us, unless there is significant reason out-weighing it. Like gambling, the more you risk, the more you CAN win. Some people just have more self-control.


Pre-Post EDIT: the more I read this the less it makes sense. Read it once. 

Although most don't give as much as Quantos did.

This isn't about what I did.  This was money I wasn't expecting.

I think a bigger question is; how much if this actually GETS to the people in africa?

Very little of it actually, most of it is sucked up by administration fees, or stolen by warlords looking to feed their own militia.


Lastly; what about the homeless people in our OWN country? Why pass that off as laziness and yet consider people you've never met, whose sole reason for over-population and disease is simply too much breeding as hard-working decent people? Surely, they are in reality sex maniacs who will screw anything and that's how so many of them- and their children - get HIV. How about instead of sending them money directly to these people; maybe analyze the very reasons they aren't getting the proper education that would  help them understand how to better themselves?

Case and point- the Somalian Warlords. This forms a government- a corrupt one. It's fully possible that the countries people could be making decent amounts based on the value of the products they process, but that these warlords are taking the excess for themselves (actually, not possible, definitely the case). therefore- the only conclusion would be to create a more stable, and less hostile government.

To make things even more interesting, the very concept of giving to Africa actually goes against democracy, since, the basic tenet is that people can do what they wish and reap the benefits of said choices; this is how we ignore the homeless people in our very own cities; "they had freedom of choice and chose drugs, or booze, or whatever"- but, is it not also true that the people in africa choose to breed like rabbits? "They are uneducated"... so, too, can our own homeless be, and although our countries provide free public education it's also true that not everybody is either above the poverty line in our own country nor grew up in circumstances that encourage learning. We are making assumptions based on the persons country of origin, and assuming that our democratic countries provide everything for everybody.


[/quote]

I also do things at home, and would encourage others down that road as well.  The whole point is that it doesn't matter where someone is that we help, it just matters that we help them.  If not for a chance birth we could all be crack babies.

It doesn't matter if someone donates 10% of their wage, or if they donate 2 days a month visiting the elderly, or making up food bank packages.  What I am trying to say is that wherever there is need we need to help fill that need, with whatever we can afford.  If the shoe was on our foot, wouldn't you want someone to help you change your circumstances?

Very well said and thought out BC, I always enjoy your posts.

I hope you're not helping bring terrorists closer to America.  Have you researched who these people are?  I know thei people who run that country are thugs and the human suffering there is certainly a tragedy... and I'm my brother's keeper.  But why don't you help a homeless veteran or do community service for the disabled?  Make our country, your community the place to start.  Not Africa

I hope you're not helping bring terrorists closer to America.  Have you researched who these people are?  I know thei people who run that country are thugs and the human suffering there is certainly a tragedy... and I'm my brother's keeper.  But why don't you help a homeless veteran or do community service for the disabled?  Make our country, your community the place to start.  Not Africa

You're sounding rather judgemental for someone who nothing about me or my attention to detail.  What makes you think that I DON'T do anything in my own community?  Maybe I should detail it for you, but, I'm just not going to justify you.  You apparently put quite a hefty amount of thought into your post, so I'll just say read my sig.

By the way, welcome to Computer Hope.

Also; caring ONLY about ones own country is pretty much the precursor to nationalism. And we all know what that usually leads to.

[Moderator]

I hope you're not helping bring terrorists closer to America.  Have you researched who these people are?  I know thei people who run that country are thugs and the human suffering there is certainly a tragedy... and I'm my brother's keeper.  But why don't you help a homeless veteran or do community service for the disabled?  Make our country, your community the place to start.  Not Africa

You should go help someone....i don't give a carp what Country this takes place in for right now...

Then tell others what they suould or shouldn't be doing.

All of man's achievements and inventions and anything we have done to further ourselves is for nothing...
this is because we will all die in the end. kinda depressing but certainly true .

[Moderator]

I disagree...
All Man's achievements and inventions last long after that Man has passed...

I disagree...
All Man's achievements and inventions last long after that Man has passed...

yes, and is it not ironic that the very message posted was only possible because of the hard work of dozens of generations of scientists and engineers for both computers and the internet. kind of funny that the very thing created by the hard work of these dozens of generations would be used to relay the message of how that work was meaningless.

Excellent point BC.  I was about to say the same thing but you beat me to it.

BTW,

I read about how they choose a pope recently. Apparently, the Cardinals choose a new pope. I just had one question.

Why the heck does a baseball team get to choose?

Do you think a hockey team would do better?

I disagree...
All Man's achievements and inventions last long after that Man has passed...

All Man's achievements and inventions ,  will be destroyed by man as he will destroy the

earth in eon's to come 

[Moderator]

Man cannot and will not ever have the capacity to destroy Earth.

Man cannot and will not ever have the capacity to destroy Earth.

True, but we can certainly increase our capacity to destroy our brothers.

i did not mean the body of the earth , the sun will destroy that a long time down the road



man will destroy the land and every thing that grows as they are doing now , fresh water will dry up some

time it has started to do so now , pollution , waste of materials and waste of energy is putting a burden on

the earth . what will happen when oil , gas , coal runs out which it will do

solar energy will never meet the demand , nuclear is fine for the countries who can afford it what about the

people in the other 100s of countries and islands , i know , the big countries will open the borders and take

the people in     no they will be left to die as there will not be enough food and water to go round

ok , i must go and lie down thats the end of my rant 

fresh water will dry up

hahahaha

haha

It's called the water cycle. See, water evaporates from ANY body of water. Normally, the oceans. Which are of course salt water. this water vapour then goes into the sky and is guided by the wind and currents. Eventually, the vapours condense and fall as precipitation. This is how fresh water exists at all.

something for you to read , i know how freash water is made i learnt it 50 years ago in school

what about the fuels etc i suppose they will never run out and of coarse man will fix that when it happens

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2006/3310endersbee_water.html

http://www.enviro-news.com/news/rivers_drying_up_as_climate_change_takes_hold.html

http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/commodities/why-water-supplies-are-drying-up.aspx

http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/stock-markets/is-china-drying-up.aspx

Well this thread went downhill fast. I thought that this was a discussion about charity and love for people.

Anyway...
@ Patio: What I think Juice was referring to was the fact that one day the entire human race, and even this planet will be dead and there will be no one to remember our deeds. When he "said" man he was referring to mankind. This reminds me of the classic, Neil Armstrong quote: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", where he should have said: "one small step for a man".

 But, who's to say, really? Mankind may outlive this planet. Our technological evolution is advancing exponentially. There may come a day when mankind has spread though our galaxy.

Our technological evolution is advancing exponentially

Oh? Is that so?
How do you explain that Microsoft updates are increasing exponentially at a rate that exceeds the increase in bandwidth  At current rate, the updates will take up over 50% of all bandwidth available in 3 years and 4 months from now.

I have yet to figure out how most of this affects our support of our fellow humans...

Well this thread went downhill fast. I thought that this was a discussion about charity and love for people.

Anyway...
@ Patio: What I think Juice was referring to was the fact that one day the entire human race, and even this planet will be dead and there will be no one to remember our deeds. When he "said" man he was referring to mankind. This reminds me of the classic, Neil Armstrong quote: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", where he should have said: "one small step for a man".

 But, who's to say, really? Mankind may outlive this planet. Our technological evolution is advancing exponentially. There may come a day when mankind has spread though our galaxy.

Exactly what i was saying and if we colonize the universe, human life is gonna turn into a star wars movie or like the Halo game series in which humans will go extint cuz of a life consuming force... or we will all die from the every thing that created us god... or the big bang theory in which all matter contracts back into the speck of dust in which the universe was created from. or we can go with the Juice theory in which the day we prepare to leave Earth forever in space craft, a slight slip on the self destruct button on the largest ship causes the fleet to explode in chain reactions and kill every human being .

Any of those can be remotely possible.

Any of those can be remotely possible.

not if you have a remote understanding of physics.

umm.. yes but the other two are still ok...