A Dark, Dark Week...

Possibly the creepiest thing I've ever seen- wasp masters/cockroach slaves. [older link, I'm late to the game]

OK- that was the light note-

This weekend, the bassist of one of my all time favorite bands (Paul Raven, of Ministry- and Pigface, and Killing Joke) died of a heart attack. He'd been a part of their most brilliant LP's- a true loss. I do honestly believe that if not for 'The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" and NIN's "Pretty Hate Machine" that I would have had a serious breakdown or worse in (much) younger days.

Today's question for the floor- any albums that you credit in some way with saving your life- or at least your sanity?

Lastly- my version of prayers go out to all of you in SD and close right now and dealing with either the fear of losing your home or the actual reality. I lived in Cardiff a few years back, and saw today that Rancho Sante Fe- just inland- lost a lot of homes. Heartbreaking.

Comments

[Jeff]

I am nothing if not consistent!

:)

[Xero]

I have never known anyone to be so consistent in missing the point of a comment just so that they can make their make the issue something they thing they actually have knowledge in.

Usefulness of things is based on context. A table with 100 full meals on it being fed to 1 person is 99% useless, but had those 100 meals been made available to a minimum of 100 people then it will be 100% useful. This is true of shelter containing 100 rooms being used by a single person vs even 2 or more people. Any expenditure of resources on something that will go unused, or even rarely used, is a waste. This simple concept should be understood my anyone of near average intelligence or above.

Now what is or is not my place to criticize is really entirely of my choosing. The right to criticize those things which we personally or as a whole chose to dislike is even written in the constitution of the United States and a protected right of all persons in the United States as well as many other countries. Just because it's legal does not mean it should go without criticism. Criticism of the norm or accepted is what allows culture and civilization to advance.

Freedom of though and expression are good things, I suggest we all try them from time to time.

[Jeff]

If such propoerty is useless, why do you care if it is private? If it is uselss, why would the masses want access? If some "idiot" in your words wants to spend his/her own money on it, it is neither your place nor mine to criticize them. If, on the other hand, public monies are to be used, such as to "preserve" the right of the masses to "enjoy" it, then yes we can debate it's merits...

[Xero]

Not sure how you were getting any socialist or anti-capitalist sentiment out of my comments, but I can imagine you tend to look for those things even when they do not exist. I don't recall saying that it was wrong to own private property, only to expend resources on useless private property and to deny other people the right to enjoy the land available on the earth.

Basing happiness on worldly possessions is bound to end is disappointment, but if you can't see that I don't think anything I can say will help.

On the other hand as soon as you find me an example of socialism that was actually implemented I will show you an example that exceed expectation. This includes early Soviet socialism, Scandinavian socialism, Chinese socialism, Korean socialism, as well as social communes around the world. But if you are judging success as "ever lasting and like capitalism" then sure you will see failure where ever you look. But then again you probably think the drop in overall life expectancy that has come about since introducing capitalism to ex-soviet states is a good thing.

[Jeff]

Um, socialism failed everywhere it was tried, Xero. Come, join our reindeer games! Capitalism is wonderful!

[Xero]

Maybe I can make it more clear by saying "spending millions on private property is ridiculous." There are considerably better was to expend resources than on mansions with rooms the owner will never even use, or to block off parcels of land so that only an insignificant portion of the populace can enjoy it. Some people would consider such acts to be evil, I just find it to be acting out of ignorance.

My statement was not to say that property is a bad short term personal investment, but instead to say that it is a really bad longterm investment for humanity.

To quote Tyler Durden "The things you own end up owning you."

[Jeff]

"Spending millions on property is ridiculous"? That has to be the dumbest thing I have heard today.

[Xero]

I was not talking evil, but stupid. Putting to much stock in physical property is foolish. Spending millions on property is ridicules. Spending millions on property and placing that property on a fault line which is also prone to landslides and forest fires is down right idiotic. Being Wealthy is fine, being frivolous is stupid.

[Tamsen]

I will have to check that out in a darker mood...

I am of a different opinion- I guess it just doesn't make some one evil or more deserving of pain and loss to me just because they have money (which they very well may have deservedly earned).
My family lost everything in a flood in '84- yes, in Tulsa, terrible place weather-wise to live for sure. We were strictly middle class I'd guess you'd say- but even had my neighborhood been a rich one, nothing brings back the photos, the babybooks, basically anything and everything special one owned. Few deserve that kind of ache, and to basically applaud thru indifference it happening based on demographic is puerile and crass.

[Xero]

In my single darkest moment I inadvertently listened to a CD of my wife's that I today credit to my continued Existence and certainly my sanity. The album was so critical that we even named our son after the bands song writer. If you ever find yourself so self absorbed that you don't even notice, let alone care, who you are hurting, I suggest taking a good listen the Breaking Benjamin's We Are Not Alone (named after the James Hilton book of the same name featuring the line "We are not alone in suffering injustice."). If only Ben Burnley was able to capture the same sense of emotion on other Breaking Benjamin albums I might be able to suggest those as well, but sadly I can't.

As for people that build there houses in the path of devastation, yes it sucks, but I feel no sympathy. Southern California isn't quite as bad as building your city below sea level but it's certainly not much better (If the fires don't get them the quakes will). And since these fires happen to be ripping through multi-million dollar homes I have even less sympathy (and I even have a brother who's home has been covered in ash do to it's proximity to the fires).