Ode to my Hobbit. (This is really about my manly bits)

There is just too much retardation in the world. Forget Trump, elections, North-Korea, what the fuck ever David Lynch's problem is, your lack of money and the slow dying of your soul.
I've written something bad to make everything better. Buy me beer. I'm bored and sober.


Concerning hobbits:*
My hobbit is an average hobbit, small and fairly stout. The hobbit enjoys pleasant surprises and attention, but if startled , it will go into hiding. It requires surprisingly little food, and too much alcohol will make it confused and render it useless.
The hobbit is fairly private and enjoys indoor activities, but is known to venture forth into the wild nature when alone and feels the need to breathe.
Most of all, it enjoys spending time in a hobbit-hole, where it feels most at home and can engage in all sorts of activities. Though somewhat short of stature and very modest, the hobbit will rise to most occasions, and performs great feats of endurance and bravery when put under pressure. Give him a magic ring, and there is no end to what he can achieve. Although the hobbit spends most of his active time in the hobbit-hole, he enjoys the occasional trip to Mordor.  



*Yes, I'm perfectly aware of the fact that I once referred to myself as a hobbit in a wedding a long time ago, and thusly calling future-me a cock. Which I'm fine with.

Feel the divide - nibble on the rich, just a tiny bit, just a morsel, ok, maybe a little more, maybe have intercourse with a police-person.

Some 77 different international NGOs, left-wing political parties, think tanks and trade unions have organized a two-day "alternative summit" in Hamburg on July 5 and 6, a day ahead of the G20, which organizers say "defends a system that boosts social inequality." Over the course of 12 panel discussions, scientists, activists and politicians are to debate different ways to overcome "poverty, exploitation, oppression and the destruction of nature."

-  from dw.com


There is a divide. I can see it. Like Galadriel, I can just sense it in the air and water. It is inside of me. This divide isn't a single chasm, like a Grand Canyon, splitting USA between Trumps and No-Trumps, no, this is a spiderweb of a fractured Earth. It is Us against Them, only most of the time, We don't know who They are. Hell, I don't know who We are.
The divide is the crack between the Haves and the Have Nots, the people who represent the People, and the People. The network of cracks put the Left on one side and the Right on the other, immigrants, blacks, white, rich, poor, police, punks, hippies, Big Companies, GMO, bees, social justice warriors, feminists, gays*, North-Korea, USA, Russia, Trump, Putin - everything gets its own little patch of land on a scorched earth, laying siege to the land-island next to it.
But the divide is also inside of me, not only do I have to plant my feet in the dirt and yell this land is mine, get the fuck off my lawn, I have to deal with an internal divide. But that is the beauty about having feelings** and fucking thoughts, you can have more than one at the time! I can stand being a man divided a hell of a lot longer than some of the larger institutions can.
These are observations made through social and unsocial media. There has been a meeting of the elite of The Elite, a G20 meeting in Hamburg. This is of course the good and democratic meeting, the really-really elitist meeting would be the G8 meeting. Donald and Vladimir got to shake hands, but what else happened, who was there and what did they discuss? The short and sweet answer is, and will always be - Money. Global economic growth, international trade and regulation are the main topics, so naturally there are not only leaders of various influential nations present, the following parties (among others) are also present: The World Bank, The World Trade Organization, The International Monetary Fund, The Financial Stability Board and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. So they talked about money, terrorism, the cost of terrorism, immigration, the cost of immigration, environmental sustainability, the cost of environmental sustainability, and some other things, not all directly linked to finance, but with a price-tag attached for sure.
I realize I might sound like a broken record, but money rule the world, and this is a problem. I realize I sound like a naive hippie, but the way global capitalism functions, it is a one way ticket to a fiery death for us all.
Or I might be wrong.
This system of capitalism and "free market"*** might launch us into space, colonizing new planets, continuing life EXACTLY LIKE IT IS NOW! Which is fine for the few, and totally shit for the many more. Wouldn't it be great to mend our ways before we spread the status quo that constantly keeps us on the brink of international crisis, starvation and nuclear war to other planets? Is that what we want? More of the same for all eternity, because this works so splendidly?
But I digress.

There was also another participant that I forgot to mention at the G20 meeting. The People.
The people shoved up in such numbers that the German police requested reinforcements from Denmark (sic). So that is one big divide. The few who rule the many. Then there is the police that works for the few, to protect them from the many. That is another divide. Wait, is that what the police is supposed to do? What was your last interaction with the law? Just asking. And this is where my internal divide tends to kick in. In several ways.
I am sceptical to violence, but I'm in no way a pacifist. There were peaceful protests, riots, clashes with the police and random destruction in the city and suburbs of Hamburg. The question I ask is this - will meaningful change come about through peaceful means? I have to say I kinda doubt it. Take a glance to USA. Bernie Sanders vs the system, that worked great, and everyone is ok with that. That is how steeped the system is in corruption. People can't be bothered to even care anymore.
So when I see the condemnation of the riots and violence in the media I feel divided. I don't want innocent protesters to get hurt. I don't want random people to have their cars destroyed or their houses vandalized. McDonald's, big business, that sort of thing? Couldn't care less. Yes, fuck you too. You disagree yet? Here comes the big one, a big divider in every sense, both internal and external - the police.
The police are there to uphold law and order. They are also public servants, there to protect the public - everyone. But they work for the system. They aren't evil, they are ordinary people - UNLESS! - they are the kind of people who gravitate to positions where they can exact power over others, like many politicians do. Beware of the people who want power for power's sake.
Anyways.
When I see social media I see people condemning the violence against the police. My question is this - Why is violence against the police worse than violence against other people - in any situation?
In most countries there is a divide in the law between the public, the big players and those that serve them, the police. You get in a load more of trouble smacking a policeman in the face as opposed to, say me.
They have the fucking training and gear for it, they chose their line of work! I didn't. So when I get smacked in the face, why is that better? Why are public servants who in many cases do precious little serving to the public, held in such high regard in the eyes of society and the law? Well, the law-part might be self-explanatory, right. If you are in opposition to the system, there might come a time when you find yourself in position where you handled bodily and rudely. You might get beaten, soaked and pepper'sprayed. You are not allowed to defend yourself. You can hit the person next to you in the same situation and chances are good that no one will care except for said person. The system protects the system, paid with the money you provide through taxes and consumerism. So how about some equality to the law? The people of the police aren't magical, they aren't better or more important than anyone else, don't give them special treatment.
Sure, you can chant, you can sign a petition, you can write your local whatever and ask them to do something. That always works, the media will cover that, right?
Sometimes I think the divide needs to be bridged with fire. Maybe I'd like to see the smoke rise on the horizon, but then I think - yes, but don't burn down my shit. Or maybe I'd let my shit burn if it meant something. I'm divided on this.
And just to no get in any trouble - I totally condemn all violence. There. Covered my ass.

* and all that qlwarblegloop-jazz.
** like Hate.
 *** don't even get me started.

Things are getting interesting - short and sweet (Kim Jong-un rides suicide dolphin to sink presidential ship )

"Look, my job isn't to make everything beautiful. My job isn't to make living life a good time. My job is to keep the majority of people in this country alive. That's it. If fifty-one percent eat a meal tomorrow and forty-nine percent don't, I've done my job. That is the absolute fucking limit of what can be done...You might not think that's the way a president should behave. But you know...that's fuckin' tough." 

- The Beast, POTUS in Transmetropolitan. 




Yes, I'm writing something, big whoop. It's obviously not from peer pressure or popular demand, but the cat told me time was right, and I really need to flex my mental muscles and get cracking so here we are.
My friends, we live in interesting times, just like the ancient Chinese curse. But it isn't like I need telling you that, is it? The UK is leaving the EU*, Turkey is going full retard, France is on the verge of going so far right, they can't even see the left on the horizon, and then there is Trump.
Trump is the big one, or so every media tells me. I'm just happy he is there, not the most popular opinion I know, but I enjoy seeing the boat rocked. The thing is, if you rock the boat enough, the people on board might decide they need to set a new course or possibly even get a new and better boat. Yes, the boat is a half-assed metaphor for whatever you want it to be. The point is, I don't think this boat of your choice will capsize, which would be bad whatever your personal choice of symbol boat is.
There is a lot of noise about North-Korea being some sort of iceberg making the future of our vessel dangerous. They might even be in their own boat, shooting torpedoes at our boat.

Listen up.

I'm willing to bet my steam-account on this.

North-Korea isn't a danger to anyone who isn't living in North-Korea, or if things get super-hairy extremely fast, South-Koreans. If it wasn't for the fact that they have the ability to blow Seoul away if they feel they have nothing to lose, someone - I'm looking at you Uncle Sam - would have moved in a long time ago. There is some worry about China, they are backing the Kims, aren't they? Well, yes. If they didn't there wouldn't be any North-Koreans left to starve, but how do I put this?  The relationship between China and North-Korea is something like this - At the family reunion where China is the head of the family, North-Korea is the slightly retarded cousin who keeps on using food as finger-paint shouting he is an amazing wizard. The only thing stopping N-K from eating the poisonous floral arrangements, is China's firm hand on his shoulder,trying to keep him from embarrassing the rest of the family by accidentally killing himself. At some point China's patience is going to go away for a discreet break, and those delicious-looking flowers will be up for grabs.


"Past records of inter-Korean relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to nothing but war." 

-Kim Jong-un


Ok, so they might have a nuke that MIGHT fly. Again, if it even managed to get airborne, fueled by coal and hope, I predict it would make it a whopping five miles before it got shot down.**
Now consider Pakistan and India. Those are countries with humongous populations, big armies and actual nuclear weapons. And they hate each-other. AND I can't help but feel that Pakistan is just a crisis or two away from becoming a more or less ally of the US (where was it they got Bin Laden again?) to the new big bad enemy. Which would actually be scary, as opposed to Kim and co.

Back to Trump.
Trump is like a cartoon character. But you have to compare him to the right character. If you've ever read Transmetropolitan***, the choice is obvious. He is The Beast. Believe it or not, but that is a good thing, because that means he isn't The Smiler. The Trump Beast isn't a perfect comparison, but in my mind it's damned close. Get through the day, make money, don't get too many killed, Team America - fuck yeah! The environment is probably getting shat on (in a bad way, not in the good fertilizer way), but at least Trump Beast isn't in the job just to fuck with people, just because he can.
Beware the Smiler. Ted Cruz gives me that vibe.

So.
Let the boat be rocked, bring the interesting times on.
     
"Yes, General, I am masturbating into the American Flag. It relaxes me. Do you have a problem with that? Would you rather that I used you?"

- The smiler


* I enjoy the fact that some people on the net, possibly Americans, claim that UK is leaving Europe.
** Still very bad for the Koreans in general.
***If not, go do so. Now. THE POWER OF VISHNU COMPELS YOU! Or deity of your choice.

Busting the ghost of crap. (Hillary Clinton sacrifices kitten in secret Illuminati ritual as Donald Trump watches - must see!)

You know I'm right.

I watch movies, as most people do. Some I enjoy, some I just hate to bits and want to sue the companies that made them and make them watch me doing useless shit for an hour and a half*.
Some people are of the misconception that every opinion is valid. They are wrong, and I just proved that with this sentence. Some people think the new Ghostbusters film is good. They are so wrong.

“Usually when you see females in movies, they feel like they have these metallic structures around them, they are caged by male energy.”
― Bjørk

If you think new Ghostbusters was a good movie, I am here to tell you that there is something wrong with you.

Sure, some jokes were good. And that is all there is to be said about it. It's a feminist all-terrain vehicle reboot movie, with a statement to make. The big problem is that it is all about the statement and the film itself, as art, entertainment and craft, is left behind to be scaffolding, like a metallic structure, caging it in meaningless female energy.**

Jokes kinda had to be made, so they were forced in there, probably with a crowbar. I get it, I really do. Chris Hemsworth's character was the amalgam of every stupid assistant/receptionist eye-candy ever made, but he came across as literally retarded, and not funny. Just a statement.
The cast from the old movies was there to be killed off or just make an appearance as a generally unlikable cameo. It was a changing of the guard, a statement. It could've been a good thing, lending credibility to the new crew, instead it came off as a half-hearted fuck you to the old crew.

Story was meeh.
Characters were urgh.
Villain was eesh.
Action sequences were umfh.

Some jokes were ok.
Visually good, huzzah!

Maybe I'm just to misogynistic to get it, I don't know. I'm a guy and I totally hated it. I hate it because it could've been GREAT. Instead it was turned into a stupid reboot with a mission. I'm not saying it is a bad movie because the 'busters were all female, I'm fine with that. I'm saying it is bad movie because of the ham-fisted way they made it into a bad movie about girl-power. If you are one of those people who just go "Yaaay, women instead of men!" at any cost, then I have to ask you
-Really, at any cost? Because you are not only getting bad movies here, in the US of A, they are voting in Hillary. People are getting voted to presidency because of their genitals. And here I thought that was the opposite of equality. No, I get it, a female president of the US, is fine. But will any woman do, is that it? Obama was a good enough first black president. He was intelligent, eloquent and didn't fuck up anything too badly. Is Hillary really the best they can do for first female president?
Come on. Don't make it into just another statement.
I'd vote for Trump by the way. Who knows, he'd might break the system.


  
Anyway, I have some awesome ideas that I hope some company with a true sense of social justice will pick up on.

Blues Sisters - Jaqueline and Elveena are two musicians on the run from the laws of men. Follow them as they tour across America while they raise money to shut down the orphanage where they were molested by priests as teens.

Trans-Transformers - More than meets the eye, robots in disguise. The tag line says it all, really.

Pretty Man - A fairytale about a misguided man-whore, who gets turned into a caring and supporting man-toy by a successful business-princess with a heart of gold.

Indiana Jones and the secret of the patriarchy - Emma Watson is Indiana Jones, female archaeologist and adventurer. Follow her as she fights the agents of an ancient evil and uncovers the truth about everything.

James Bond - Public Secret - Britain's secret agent has a private secret and makes it public. This thrilling action-spy-drama sees Bond lose his job and get death threats on facebook, because of his bravery.

Jamie Bond - I am bond - Bond is back, and she is classier, deadlier, sexier than ever.



Warner bros, 21thCF, anyone?



*Possibly they pay me to do this, possibly they just download me for free, fair is fair.
**I'm so clever.

I'm not the warrior poet.

A chain of thoughts.

Once were warriors is a film about Maori in a modern New Zealand. The sequel is called What becomes of the broken hearted. I remember the titles, not so much the plot, except that they were good. I think I used to be a warrior, when I was young. I'm certainly not a Maori, but maybe my ancestors were Vikings. They were warriors. And proud. I used to fight a lot, when I was little. Not so much these days. There is no more fight in me. My grandmother on my father's side was from Poland. She was probably not from a Viking line. I don't remember much of my fighting days, my memories of childhood are like Swizz cheese, full of holes. But maybe I was proud in my youth. It would be nice to think I fought from pride from time to time, and not always from necessity. Don't know why fighting because of pride is better than other reasons to fight, except it would be nice to have some. Pride, I mean. We are not Vikings any more. Maybe we are broken hearted. I think I am. The world isn't the promise you once were given, and no matter how much you fight, you cannot change that. The time to put your boat to the waves, sail to distant shores and claim new land, is gone. I'm not a Maori nor a Viking, and I don't have a boat. I do have a heart. It pumps blood through my body, every day, every minute until I die. It works quite well. It only feels like it's broken.

Hellblazer is a comic from DC. In one issue, a homeless man shouts "I don't want your money, I want your love", then throws himself in front of a train. I think I would like to have both. My own money and my own love, but maybe yours would be good too. I've been spending a lot of money lately. Not so much love. The results have not been optimal, but maybe satisfactory. It is hard to be a loving person, so I try to settle for decent instead. Maybe I should give more of my money to charity, instead of spending them on myself. I like to believe I spread the wealth to my friends and family. Not sure I do. Keyword is believe. Besides, I'm not a rich man. Poor men seldom change the world, at least not for the better. It is easier for a poor man with a rifle to change the world for the worse, than it is for a poor man with a pen to change it for the better. Maybe the pen is mightier than the sword, but never bring a pen to gunfight. The age of noble warriors is gone. Pens are mostly used to sign documents these days. My weapon of choice is the pen. In my mind it has become a symbol of corruption, politics and secret trade agreements. Maybe I should get a sword instead. I do all my writing on my computer, so much for the pen.

Pray Nightfall is a song by Paradise Lost. The lyrics are sparse. Sometimes less is more, though this seems a blatant lie and a trick of the mind. I always feel my words are small, little. They don't have meaning, they have no weight. I don't know how to say what needs to be said, be it on screen, paper or by mouth. In my head this all is is repeated throughout the song. That feels about right to me. It wouldn't be so bad, if other people would say what needed saying. Maybe I should stop expecting things from my environment, but I think the day I do that, is the day my heart becomes broken in the real meaning of the word. Words are cheap. It is like I lessen myself  and the world every time I say something meaningless.  Maybe I once was a warrior. Maybe I'm broken hearted. I'm not a Viking and I don't have a boat. What will become of me is a an open question. I would like both money and love, but it is hard to figure out which one is more sparsely handed out in this day and age. I'm not a warrior and I'm not a poet.  This is all in my head, where words are not cheap until they are spoken.

Smoking weed, steam or cigarettes? Follow the money straight to the deathtrap. (Bigger than Jesus meeting between Illuminati and big pharma)

“Here is my final point...About drugs, about alcohol, about pornography...What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, or take into my body as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet? And for those who are having a little moral dilemma in your head about how to answer that question, I'll answer it for you. NONE of your fucking business. Take that to the bank, cash it, and go fucking on a vacation out of my life.”   - Bill Hicks



Who benefits? Follow the money. If you haven't learned to ask this important question and the very important follow-up anywhere else, then you can learn it right now, as I take it straight from Commander Vimes' mouth, courtesy of Terry Pratchett. In this case we shall apply said question to our lovely smoking habits.

Today's trigger is the ongoing debate about electronic cigarettes/vaping/steaming. Whatever you want to call it, I will call them ECs. These wonderful gadgets allow smokers and nicotine addicts to inhale as much nicotine-filled, or indeed nicotine-free, steam as they wish, without all that tar, smoke, benzene and various poisonous fumes slowly killing them. Hooray, right? Shame on you, you are dead wrong. The powers that be are doing everything they can to stop this from happening. 

Why? Follow the money.

But first let's have a look at what this is. Without being an expert, it seems to me that liquid or crystalized nicotine is heated and then inhaled as steam. There are flavors that can be added, gadgets that can customize the EC experience in whatever way you wish. You can even inhale flavored steam totally without nicotine. All this without destroying you lungs or getting all sorts of cancer. Yes, sure this is relatively new thing, but everyone agree that it is much healthier than regular smoking. Yes, there has been a couple of studies done saying that the use of ECs is extremely bad. These have been thoroughly discredited and/or debunked. Some say that there are possible long-term effects that are yet to be observed. This is of course possible, the point is that the same people usually state that there is no question about ECs being less harmful than traditional cigarettes by miles.
And let's face it, if they could've proved that regular use of ECs would harm you significantly or just plain kill you any time soon, they would've been all over it a long time ago, the big money would've dropped the other shoe before you could exhale.

My personal experience with ECs is great. I'm a raging nicotine addict. Using ECs I'm down to two cigarettes a day when at work. And ok, some more when at parties and festivals, but I don't need the cigarettes any more. I know many people who have stopped smoking regular cigarettes all together with the help of ECs.

So why is this not recognized world wide and celebrated? Follow the money. Who has a lot of money to gain or lose?

First off, there is the tobacco industry. They have a lot of money to lose. They also have a lot of money to begin with, and have their own tobacco lobbyists to discredit ECs. I mean, come on, if correctly marketed and priced, ECs could take over the entire tobacco market in the western world, of course the tobacco people are worried. Tobacco industry wants ECs dead.

Then there is Big Pharma. They don't necessarily hate the idea of ECs, but they want them all for themselves. So to them the idea is that ECs should be regulated as medicine and only sold by pharmacies. Who could blame them for wanting the ECmoney, right? But that would kill off a lot of competition and make ECs a more expensive and exclusive product, not so great for the consumer.

So there is a tug-of-war between those two industries and their evil as hell lobby groups. The EC companies are new and small time compared to these industrial behemoths, so it seems like a rather one-sided battle. On top of that, there are the various health departments and organizations of various countries and the world in general*. One could think that they would embrace new products that are a healthier alternative to one of the most health-damaging products for years and years? One would be terribly wrong in thinking that. They drag their feet, ask for more tests, side with one lobby or the other and look for what taxation opportunities there are to be capitalized on. They are either ignorant and behind the times, buried in bureaucracy, fanatical health-freaks or grabbing money. Possibly all of the alternatives. Weep and despair, folks.

Now, let's have a look at the war on drugs. Possibly not the best tie-in ever, but I don't care, this has pissed me off for years, and both topics involve smoking and Potatobeak HateCat gave me the go-ahead.

First of all. If this is indeed a war, has anybody ever won it? Has any nation ever declared victory in the war on drugs and just celebrated victory and made peace? No. Or possibly some nations proclaim "We have no drugs nor problems with drugs." Those are the places you don't want to live. No, not because you can't get your drugs of choice, you damned hippie, but because those are places with a dictator or militaristic or possibly religious regime that will lock you up if you blink in a funny way, and they probably have drugs, they just won't admit it to the rest of the world and join in on our ongoing war of stupidity. Anyways, if this is a war, when do we count the casualties, the expenses and consequences? And if we do those things, where do we draw the line and say "Enough, it is time to pull out our troops and cut our losses."? Because there are casualties, both the obvious and the more subtle ones, but the numbers, if you add them up, are HUGHE!

 In Mexico there is an actual war, with cartels and private armies fighting the regular army with thousands of deaths. This is not an unknown situation throughout the rest of Central and South America neither.
The more subtle casualties are the overdoses, the lives ruined because of drug-related crime and the very criminalization of people whose only crime is to do recreational drugs.

But drugs are bad, or so I've heard it said.  Well, so is alcohol and smoking, yet we don't declare war on beer and cigarettes. The casualties from alcohol and cigarettes are already humongous, imagine the death tolls of the infamous "Cigs and beer-war of '15"? Holy crap, what a bad idea.
But I digress.
Sure, some drugs are super-bad for you, they won't kill you slowly, they will kill you instantly or at least ruin your life. A question not often asked in public is - would they have ruined said life they were legal? I'm just saying.
Anyways, I'm not suggesting to legalize everything and shouting everything goes from the rooftops, nope, I'm flat out saying that legalizing all variations of marihuana would benefit the world in general greatly. I would also suggest that doctors should be able to prescribe heavy drugs like heroin to long time addicts. I see very few cons and oh so many pros.

Let's see now.

You would take the money away from criminal gangs and organizations, and the government would actually be able to tax now illegal drugs and make money. This would be an effective way to hamper organized crime as opposed to what we are doing now.
Look at the prohibition time in USA, talk about generating crime.
People who occasionally enjoy weed but otherwise are perfectly well behaved, wouldn't be criminals. This means that regular people who wouldn't hurt a fly, would not have to live in fear of the police. This only breeds unnecessary animosity between law enforcement and the populace.
Besides, if you know that you are a criminal in the eyes of the law, isn't it that much easier to go ahead and be a little more criminal?
One might even go so far as to say that it would shorten the increasing divide between the classes. Involving a lawyer in anything greatly reduces the amount of penalty, if any, one receives for minor crimes, meaning if you have money, you might pay a small fine or go Scott free, whereas poorer people seldom have a decent lawyer at hand. Paying the fine can potentially seriously harm their economy and not paying land them in jail, and so it could be argued that current policies on drugs are enforcing the divide between rich and poor in any nation. 
Drawing a clearer line between heavy drugs and lighter drugs, and officially making some legal and others illegal, would help to set dangerous drugs aside and make a more conscious and clear divide between these.
Various green stuff has shown its worth in medicine, and new uses are being discovered continuously. I'm not saying it is a wonder drug, but it is in many cases a beneficial drug.

So why should doctors give junkies heroin? Well, if you've tried rehab four times, have to be a criminal in order to raise the money you need for drugs and live on the street, I would argue that the best option for everyone involved would be to give this person heroin. Yes, it is, don't argue.
Said person's quality of life is just about zero. Said person would not be forced into prostitution or stealing, but would in fact might be able to produce something of value to society and actually manage to hold some sort of job or at least not be a criminal. No scratch that. The argument to do this is really about giving someone who has tried every other option a chance to have an actual life. All other gains are secondary.

So what is going on with this so called war on drugs? Some countries and American states have surrendered, at least in part, and arranged a tenuous peace. They seem to be still functional, no anarchy or Armageddon has broken out. Yet governments and various law-enforcement agencies across the globe seems to be fighting to keep the status quo, tooth and nail. Why?

It could be the money. Some places have laws that allow the police to seize any assets that are in any way linked to illegal drugs and trade of such. That is a huge bonus for any department. The thousands of yearly fines paid for petty possessions must be astronomical.  There is also employment to be considered. What will all those people who are employed in a useless war do, if the war is suddenly massively scaled down? Well, their general and employer could either make the troops crack down harder on the drugs that are still illegal, but I suspect many soldiers would have to look elsewhere for jobs. Jobs are currently, as always, a big deal everywhere. We might also consider this war in the way it tends to target the poor rather than the rich. This could potentially blow the mind of any fan of Illuminati-conspiracies**. It is undeniable that the war on drugs is a great tool for any government to wield against its population. If money = power, then we can still follow the money, in any form the cash might take.
But it is also a question of having the political balls to oppose the values of the conservative, religious, traditional, small-minded side that will butcher anyone who suggests such a move. You will potentially lose your career and power and gain nothing. It is a stupid old world, and it needs to change, yes, but not at my expense, you know?

Do I have point? NO! No great point to be made. Except that the war on drugs do more bad than good such as it is now, I mean if you want drugs you will get them, right? That points to the war being lost on a daily basis, and that isn't going to change, so why the blog bother? Oh yeah, and that smoking ECs is a hell of a lot better for you than regular cigarettes.

 Maybe I should make some sort of statement in the name of responsibility?

So, uhm.
Don't do bad drugs and don't drive while under the influence of drugs.






*No chance of them being corrupt or following the money at all, is there?
** You morons.

Don't give in to stupidity and fear - part 2 (History repeating.)

"In the defense of our nation, a president must be a clear-eyed realist. There are limits to the smiles and scowls of diplomacy. Armies and missiles are not stopped by stiff notes of condemnation. They are held in check by strength and purpose and the promise of swift punishment." - George W. Bush


Surely you read part 1? Good.

It is time to Stock up on canned food for humans and cats alike, according to media we are heading for a new cold war. Well, color me impressed, I really didn't think we would let it get that far. But I like to be prepared, and I've got very little faith in people in general, so I actually have a small stockpile of durable foodstuffs. I'm not a survivalist nutcase, I'm a realist, or so my cat keeps telling me. When everything goes wrong, I will be stuffing my face with delicious baked beans. I also have canned ham if the zombies come before the Russians.*
I'm not actually worried, the headlines are always dramatic, or someone wouldn't be doing their job very well, but there is some truth to it, the situation between Russia and, well, the world**, isn't cheerful. But as they say, it takes two to move their bodies together to a complicated early 20th century Latino rhythm. Meaning, what the hell are you all up to, what on earth are you thinking and what can I do to make you stop being stupid? These are not rhetorical questions. Somehow, we let this happen, ignore the problem or just grumble about evil Russians.
This will certainly help just as much as the good old "duck and cover". If only the Japanese had heard this phrase, thousands would've been saved. But then again, I suppose the point was to kill them.

The point of a cold war is not to kill anyone, as opposed to the famous hot wars. Well, isn't that a good thing, not killing each other, I hear no one in particular ask. Yes, I answer, and most people manage that every day without entering a verbal agreement with his neighbor that neither part will firebomb the other's house.
I sometimes talk with people in Eastern Europe, and they tell me the tanks are rolling through the streets where they live. At first I was surprised, now it seems commonplace. NATO is showing muscles, just in case Russia invades anyone they shouldn't. And I'm totally confused as to why we are entering this particular scenario again. Surely, the Russians love their children too. I mean, come on, here I was, thinking the nuclear arms race was more or less over, and we could worry about other things. But no, of course not, let us worry some more about nuclear holocaust. Our parents had such a blast digging token shelters in their gardens, we simply need to bring that back. We can pretend we live in Vault 13, it will be amusing, haha.

But wait a second. I just said the point of a cold war is to not kill anybody. Where is the danger, and what exactly is the point? Well, the danger comes from the politicians, corporations and international organizations that stoke the fires. They are clearly not good people. They might even be slightly unstable, have substance abuse problems or just be plain evil. For the most part, they just tend to prioritize money and power over everything else. And these people are the same people with the finger on the big, red nuclear buttons, or  maybe they just control said finger, it doesn't really matter. What really gets me, is that these are the same people with access to fallout shelters that might actually work. Do not for a second believe that this brewing conflict is about difference in ideologies, politics or even ethics. If the world cared even the slightest about Putin knocking off the political competition by making them dead, protecting Russians in other countries by invasion, promoting hate crime against gays or just being insanely macho, we wouldn't have given him the Olympics. The point of a new cold war would only be about money. And possibly power for the sake of power.
I hate to say this, but the damn hippies and conspiracy theorists were right on this.

USA has had a wartime economy ever since WW2. They spend insane amounts of money on defense contracts, new hardware, ships, planes and gadgets. More than any other country in the world, probably more than most other countries combined. If you hadn't noticed, the American economy hasn't been all that hot lately, neither has that of many European countries who happen to be a part of NATO, for that matter. It would be impossible for USA to change gears to peacetime economy at this point. They have used small and big wars to fuel their economy for 70 years. If the war wasn't hot, then the cold war would work just as fine until something better came along. You think I'm making this up? Use the internets, google it. War all the time. Reagan even made his own Star Wars project for blogs sake. Russia now being somewhat a lesser threat than back in the glorious USSR times, it seems the threat rests more firmly on the European countries. This works even better for USA, it's even a boon for Russia. All the better if this is mostly a regional conflict. The region still needs loans, equipment and suitable cultural entertainment.***

So why do I insist that everybody are stupid? Except for the obvious reasons (and fear), we live in democracies.**** This means we elect representatives to carry out our will. I love the term "public servants", that is exactly what they are, at  least in theory. So in a way, we are responsible - No, I don't care if you didn't vote for this or that person or didn't vote at all, you are still responsible as a human blogging being. Please, please use your grey matter, be aware of what is actually going on, question the news and don't give in to fear. The fear-dollar is big enough as it is.


*It's a classic. Zombie apocalypse and ham are like hand and glove. For some reason.
**Except those countries not bordering to Russia, not a close partner to USA or a part of NATO, so we are mainly talking about USA and Europe. You know, the world.
***See, I said everything was connected!
****If you, the reader, somehow has managed to read this from North-Korea or similar, I salute you.