Education is a lie: "Work smarter, not harder".

I hate cliches and yet I always find myself resorting to the adages. I admit that I am guilty of bad writing. I can barely form a sentence, but that is not a problem, and that is why there is hope, people. Keep in mind that I have a Bachelor's degree. That should be a huge "f u" to the American Education system, but no one cares about education because all of the money is appropriated to wars.

Education is a lie! The new trend: get rich off of someone else. This does not require education, all that is needed is an idea and a strategy for it to materialize--preferably on the world wide web. Con artists have always known to appeal to the dreams and desires of the person being conned. Beware of who you trust because it could unknowingly be occurring to you, too.

The greatest tactic to get rich off of another person is to play up their vanity, have them submit things that are of interest to the general public for a blog, and make that blog into a book! I used to visit a website that included pictures of some of the most fattening foods in the world--some of these coming from the imaginations of people who seemed to be trying to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most calories in a dish kind of foods--that some people actually eat and some restaurants actually include on the menu. That blog no longer exists because it was made into a book.

I do not have a problem with this, but I believe that each user should receive some of the royalties. I am unsure of whether the people who submitted the content were aware that they were going to help someone capitalize off of them, but this somehow seems unfair. Didn't they steal intellectual property? I do not know. It is a recession and I will gladly go to the public library and check out that book.

Some accuse Frank from postsecret.com of doing this, too, but I will defend Frank's honor and integrity because he has a very important cause behind his website. I do not believe that some of the other blogs that have done this have a cause--other than money.

Unrelated, but equally important, is the recent media attention directed at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Honolulu International Airport had a string of firings because the TSA people were not doing their job. They were not checking luggage and it should be an embarrassment to the Agency and the State. Susie Castillo mentioned how invasive of privacy the pat downs are on Democracy Now. I, too, have routinely been subjected to pat downs. I opt out of the machine because I have a weak immune system and with the additional radiation from Japan, I cannot afford to get any weaker. I have had women touch my genitals. It is disgusting and degrading. It left me in tears. The person I was flying with is always my witness. He tried to film the pat down but was told he could not do that. Democracy Now said it violates our 4th Amendment right and I believe it violates human dignity. I have been flying since I was five years old. I have been to every continent except for South America and Antarctica.  I follow the rules and regulations but flying is such a hassle that I no longer enjoy traveling--well, atleast the process.

I hope you all are well and thanks to anyone who reads any of these rants. . .random thoughts. . .

Living the tax-free American dream!

That sounds impossible, because everyone knows how persistent the IRS can be, but there is a glitch in the system and some people-- living in the states with the highest tax rates-- are living the tax-free dream! Please, change this, Obama. Enter permanent residency. Permanent residency is used by a lot of people from other countries in order to act and operate as Americans without the tax burden. Some of these permanent residents have lived in the U.S. for decades but they are exempt from paying taxes because? Well, I cannot fathom a plausible reason that anyone is allowed to live tax free but receive the same benefits as American tax payers. With the national debt at its highest level in history, shouldn't there be an end to permanent residency? Shouldn't they have to file back taxes? I am sure that some would be willing to return to their native countries before they were hounded by the IRS as some Americans would be. I hope to not sound conservative. I consider myself logical. I try to consider the validity to each side of an argument but this bothers me. I disagree with taxation without representation. I do not understand all of the taxes that I pay. I do not understand billions in foreign aid to rich countries. As a law abiding American citizen, I know that I must blindly follow the rules. I have to pay taxes. I do not have the money to plead my case in front of a court. Therefore, permanent residents should pay up, too. The military is well taken care of. The largest amount of money is issued to the military and then. . .? Blank. I need to find out but until then, I think that their money should go to rebuilding the education system, paying off the national debt, research and other areas that will benefit Americans and humanity. There is a book by Daniel Pink called "A Whole New Mind". The book focuses on the shift from MBAs to MFAs---from a Master's in Business, to a Master's in Fine Arts. I believe in the arts but they are often neglected. Joseph Campbell's, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" is a favorite of mine because it draws on classical themes. This goes back to history and the collapse of the Roman Empire: save the Middle Class. We need to focus on helping the poor and saving the Middle Class. The rich will usually be able to buy themselves out of any issue and buy people that make decisions in their favor, but no matter how many protestations there are against the rich, there are not enough solutions for uplifting the impoverished and establishing security in the position of Middle Class. I think that it is time for the permanent residency status to end and for such individuals to file back taxes. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestion or arguments related to this issue.