The Blog Effect

As many of my readers know, I had intended this blog to only last for a certain period of time. I never intended this little blog to last as long as it has. I never thought that people would link to my blog. I never thought it would be read in other countries. These things have all amazed me.

Most importantly, I never thought that I would have any effect on other people's lives. I think of this blog the same way I think of eating dinner, get home, eat dinner and write the post for the night. It has changed my life too. I was stunned when the one and only Zuma Dogg sent me a comment and linked to me. I was thrilled when a professional writer became a follower. I cannot begin to say the complexity of emotions I have over the response to my words on Pastor Carol Daniels. How could I begin to have known that would happen in 2008 when I started this blog?

When I am writing, I sort of forget that some of my readers know me personally. When I am writing, I am so focused on what I am talking about that I forget people know me and that this is my blog. A while back I discovered that a friend was concerned over my not dating because they had read about it on my blog. When I am writing, I forget that some people see my face and me in my writing, I have to or my writing would be less truthful, I would hold back more and that would cheat my words meaning.

I was reminded of the effect this blog has on my personal life over the past couple of days. One person told me that I had to keep writing, that the things I bring up need to be brought up. That was my lead pastor. Just because he is out of the hospital doesn't stop him from being an evil task master. Another stopped me and wanted to discuss something I had written and offer me some personal advice. Isn't that wonderful?

I don't cuss on my blog and I don't allow profanity in comments. I read the news everyday and think about what I am going to post. I follow the proper etiquette for quoting other sources and I provide links to the best sources I can find. I attribute where I get my information from so that the reader can check for themselves and so that the originator of the story is given proper credit.

This is not the work of a professional writer, this is not subject specific, this is neither meant to be controversial or noncontroversial, it is meant to be truthful. I do not claim to be the source of all knowledge, more often than not, I am raising questions, you supply your own answers. I don't worry about how it looks, I don't worry about grammar, I worry about content and type it as fast as I think it. This is flow of consciousness at it's ugliest.

For me, the act of writing is sublime and transformative at the same time. Writing requires that we think a little more, the act of codifying a thought conveys that message. If we see something in writing we know someone had a pause between the thought and the act, that it was contemplative. You don't see that with Twitter, no thought behind what is said, that is why it only allows so many letters in a post, so you don't have time to think.

We have stopped teaching cursive handwriting in school and eventually we will stop requiring people to even write then we will end the need for typing, everything will go video. If you knew what was allowed in schools you would understand. We are raising a generation that has no patience and is no longer taught how things work. If the technology goes down, their lives are drastically impacted. The website "Twitter" was having problems and people were freaking out, they felt cut off from their friends, they felt alone.

Writing this blog has been powerful to me on a personal level and I never thought it would be. It effects me because I discovered it effected others. The written word is one of God's greatest gifts to us, it is the power of expression that can last from generation to generation.

I think about our lead pastor tonight, I doubt he would have known about certain things if it were not for the fact that I have written about them here on my little blog. When we write, we should write, we should be truthful, we should express our thought and beliefs in a manner that we think will allow others to understand where we are coming from. We don't have to be right, we have to be honest for that is when writing attains it's worth.

The conundrum of life is which is more important, truth or love? If they can diverge, which should win? Unknowing love or unloving knowledge? Both must exist for their to be lives of worth. There can be no joy in life if either or both is absent. Where does writing fit in with any of this? Writing must be an expression that includes both.

To the people who know me and those who do not know me in person. Thanks for sticking around, I wish you all well.

Open to Dating - I Think

I spoke to someone today who said that they thought I should date again and they even asked me why I was not. I told the truth, relationships are a lot of work. My youngest spoke to me about it also, she told me she thought I should just date a bunch of women and not be in a relationship.

It has been 5 years since my ex-wife asked for the divorce. I dated a handful of women, enjoyed each date and met some wonderful people. I never had a complaint. I enjoyed the conversations with people close to my age (only one person I dated was older than me, just worked out that way).

Anyways, I began asking myself what it is I would like to see in a woman, what kind of woman would the Pimpernel like to date. I will begin with the physical as it is the least important. I like women that are petite, with dark hair and blue eyes or green eyes. I like a well balanced proportion and nice legs. And if she was tall, red headed with brown eyes, that could be nice too. I just mentioned my preference, not a requirement.

More important things to consider in who I would choose to date. First and foremost they would have to be a Christian and committed to ministry of some type. Seeing as how I preach on the weekends, I sort of figure people who didn't feel the same way would probably not want to date me anyways.

One of the things I liked the best about dating was that the women were all intelligent. I love that in a woman, a keen mind and a good sense of humor. I could date someone that others found less than attractive; but, I could not date someone that was incapable of having a deep and meaningful conversation even if we disagreed. I wish to be challenged and I wish to challenge the people I interact with.

The real deal closer is gentleness. I like a lady to be a lady, I like a tender partner. I am not talking about someone who is submissive and a slave, I am talking about someone who actually cares about how those around her are feeling and doing. Tenderness of soul rather than a voracious need for stuff and "self-fulfillment" regardless of their effect on others.

I have a problem with people who have a 110 item long list on their requirements for a wife. I don't think my list is that long and I think it is reasonable, at a minimum, it is the type of person I would be happy with. Oh, I also want them to be about my age. I don't want to have any more children and I don't want to raise my partner. I don't have a specific age range; but, late forties to early fifties is about right.

Now, here comes the rub. If I met someone who met and exceeded all of my wishes, I still don't know if I would date them regularly. I am lonely at times; but, not often. I like female companionship; but, dread having to report all of my actions and thoughts. I am not so much afraid of being hurt again as I am of wasting my time on someone who will betray me and take advantage of my efforts. It is a lot of work to be in a relationship and I am just not sure it is worth the risk of making another mistake. I do believe there are good women out there; but, I don't think I can handle being wrong again.

Fear is a funny thing, I haven't felt it very often. I consider it sort of useless. I determined early that there are only so many ways that a situation can turn out. It can get better is the best situation or you can die. If you die, you really don't have any more problems. Therefore the worst case scenario is that your problems go away. Short term you could feel pain; but, lets face it, I guarantee you will die so even pain is temporary. I think I just want to avoid some pain in between now and then.

In my life I have been shot at, cut and beat with bamboo. I don't remember the pain of any of it. The worst pains I have felt in my life were when I needed a root canal and when I herniated my intestine. Those were the sharpest pains, the cluster headaches I had till I was about 30 were shear hell; but, less sharp. I know I can find a better partner then the one I had; but, I could also make some really bad mistakes. The betrayal was worse then any physical pain I ever had.

Do you like being my therapist? My therapist used to read my blog, maybe he still does. If he does then I want to thank him for listening to my nonsense for as long as he did. If I ever see him again, I might tell him the rest of the story; but, it just got weirder and weirder.

I don't know what kind of woman would want to be with me. I am not saying I think I am not worthy of being with, it is just I don't know who I would be right for. I think they would have to be smart and tender; but, I don't know what type of person would want to be with me. I think to be with me a woman would have to be secure in themselves. They would have to want to be with someone who preaches on the weekends. I think that leaves out a lot of people.

Well there it is, the ramblings of the Pimpernel saying what is in his heart. Thoughts with no conclusions, I am still learning who I am. Take care kiddies.

Mapping You and Creating You

Two articles for my dear readers today and all tied together in one post. The first article includes a video, I recommend you watch it as it is only 6 and a half minutes long. The article is about DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and yes I know I placed the anagram first. DARPA is basically the same people who brought you the internet and all of the scary military stuff. If you want any idea of what is going on in the world, whenever you see the name DARPA, read the article.

So, our good friends at DARPA want to have your computer identify you by your unique habits and characteristics including your writing style. I want my readers to really think about how many times a day their habits are tracked. If you have a rewards card, your every purchase is tracked. If you have a smart meter then your every use of energy is tracked. Your cell phone and your car's gps chip track your every movement, the same is true for your dog if it is chipped. Finally of course your internet provider has access to your every online keystroke and all the websites you have visited, including your choice in music. Now they want to identify you based on how you move a mouse across a computer screen.

According to the representative from DARPA (in the video) all of this is being done to protect your identity from everyone except the government. Remember anything which is transmitted over the internet is not protected, you have no expectation or right to privacy on the internet according to the courts. Now, lets consider what you would look like to the government if they managed to combine all of the different information available. They would be able to identify you just based on your habits, a false name would be meaningless. So, here is the article.

Design News - DARPA to Develop 'Cognitive Fingerprint'

Do you ever get the feeling that you are little Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf just wants to see you better?

The second article is very creepy indeed and something that I wrote about in the past and said was coming. It has been reported that 30 babies have been born in the united states and that they were genetically modified. Babies have been born with the genes from three different people and it is only now being made public. Just to remind you, your opinion does not matter, they are going to do what they want.

I tell people about these things and they want to believe this is a long way off, it is not, it is now and it is real and it has so many bad implications. Designer babies. People will be thrilled to design the perfect child, the perfectly obedient, handsome and intelligent child. Heck they might even throw in creativity if you pay enough.

We know about the one child law in China and about the forced abortions. There are people calling for similar laws in the United States. The image of Octomom is shoved in our face and people call for limits on how many children someone should be allowed to have.

Yesterday we discussed circumcision being outlawed in Germany. What if it was illegal to allow a blind baby to be born or a child with Muscular Dystrophy? A few weeks ago it was announced that we are now capable of identifying 3,500 genetic problems in the unborn. What if such testing was mandatory? What if they outlawed Autism, you would never see another me (and yes, I know there are many who would be pleased with such a result; but, I would not).

What if you could pick your child's IQ? Would you and wouldn't you want them to be a genius? A world filled with a super race, the next generation of humans, the evolved perfect person. We know that most abortions are for selecting the sex of the child, I doubt people would be any better about looks, strength or intelligence.

Then again, who would bother having new children when they could just clone themselves and let their clone inherit all of their wealth. The article mentions how three people had already approached the scientist who genetically modified the babies and had requested to be cloned. Of course, if you were not a superior human or incredibly wealthy, you would not be allowed to clone yourself.

Mail Online - World's first GM babies are born


I know of one person who takes this very seriously, Madonna. SF Examiner - Madonna to cleanup team: Leave no DNA behind

More on Circumcision

This always happens, whenever I write about circumcision there is always more than one article in the same day. Okay, so we just discussed outlawing circumcision, now comes an article where in Zimbabwe, the country is pushing for all the men to get circumcised because they believe it can decrease the chances of getting AIDS by 60%.

What if this were true? Would German courts change their mind if circumcision could decrease people's chances of getting AIDS? Lets play with this a bit. The German court said that you could circumcise your child; but, only if their was a medical reason, religious reasons are not good enough. Now, if I bring my baby in to be circumcised and say that I am having it done for a health reason the German court would let me do it. Now, if on the other hand I say I am doing it for religious reasons, will I have to lie and say it was for health reasons?

I think we did the same thing with gays when the military had a "don't ask don't tell" policy. Why do we want people to lie? I remember when I first came to work for my organization. I was told that perception was as important as reality. I disagreed and have lived that career. I exactly what I mean and mean what I say. Lying does not change the perception long term; however, long term, the truth cannot be ignored and you will be seen for who you are even if they hate you.

AFP via Yahoo News - Zimbabwe MPs circumcised in anti-AIDS drive

I know this is a short post, it is for a relative who has an interest in the subject. I just don't feel like discussing it that much; but, want him to have the information that he is interested in.

Circumcision Illegal in Germany if Done for Religious Reasons

A German court has ruled that circumcision for boys for religious reasons is a crime. While the New Testament is clear that Christians do not need to be circumcised, both Muslims and Jews believe it is a requirement of their religion. In fact, in Judaism, to be uncircumcised means that one will be separated from their people.

There was a move in San Francisco recently to also outlaw circumcision. There is definitely a movement in the United States to outlaw it. What is interesting is that in Germany, they didn't bother voting on it. Whether you agree or disagree with the decision, is it fair to make a fundamental belief and practice of a religious group without a vote? In fact, one criminal law expert said, "Unlike many politicians, the court has not allowed itself to be scared off by charges of anti-Semitism or religious intolerance," added Putzke.

Did you get that. His feeling was that if the elected officials wouldn't pass the law the court should. Sounds like democracy isn't too important in Germany. This, by the way, is the same country that is calling for a Europe of less democracy. Germany and France are saying that the solution to their economic crisis in to have the European Union decide what countries budgets should be in they are in the EU.

But, none of this is the aspect of the story that I am interested in. Lets say that you are a Jew or Muslim living in Germany. Would you stay if it meant that you could not practice your religion? Both the United States and Israel have about 5 million Jews. In the United States they make up less than 2% of the population. If circumcision were to be outlawed in the United States, my question is how many American Jews would emigrate to Israel?

It would be a true test of faith. Perhaps there would be a movement within the Jewish community that justified not circumcising, I am sure that some would, they would claim it is only a ritual and could be symbolic without actually removing the foreskin. If American Jews stayed and stopped circumcising their kids, would they still be considered Jewish by the Jews in Israel? Maybe not.

The Book of Revelations says that everyone will be required during the end times to have a mark on their right hand or forehead in order to buy or sell. I think I could ask the same question of Christians. I should point out that I do not believe the RFID chip that is being implanted in some people is the mark, I know there are many that do; but, I am not one of them and I still wouldn't take a chip. I think many Christians would take a mark and convince themselves that it wasn't "the" mark.

I was speaking to someone today who told me that they had been a Presbyterian. He said he liked it because all he had to do was go to church on Sunday for 45 minutes and then go back to living his life the way he wanted. He said he liked a religion that didn't require too much of you. I think most people feel that way. They are good with a God that they can ask things of, the giant slot machine in the sky; but they don't really want to bother reading the bible, having to forgive or having to be married to have sex.

This post is not about circumcision, Germany or Jews, it is about Christians. To any Christians reading this, my question is, would you take the mark? I think we will see both Fundamentalists and Liberal Christians take a mark if they needed to in order to buy or sell. I also believe there are some atheists and agnostics that would refuse to take a mark.

I like to play with scenarios in my head, contingency thinking. You take every possible outcome and ask what the best way to respond is. Just imagine that the world's economy goes completely bust, disease and war about. Now a man comes onto the scene and makes all the problems go away. He then convinces people that all the evil in the world is caused by religion. Now, lets go a little further. The same person then makes all the problems go away. For 3 1/2 years the world goes to on the brink to wonderful and prosperous. The same person then goes to Jerusalem and sits on the temple mount and declares that the only real God is him and us. He states that we are all Gods or can become Gods. He asks all the "good" people who have helped turn things around to take a mark saying they are their God. What if the name of the person on the mark of the beast was "Myself"?

One of the people that was on the show "Jackass" had a tattoo on him, probably on his rear end. He would tell people that he had their name written on him and show them the tattoo, I believe it said "Your Name". Cute, right? Well, actually, I don't like tattoos; but, a nice joke.

Back to our hypothetical. Imagine being a Christian who took the mark and then heard this person say that we are God or he is God. Wouldn't you feel stupid? What is my point, my point is, how much do you really believe? Do you believe your religion enough to give up everything in your life?

You Are Confused

Want to hear the first rap song, it was by some white guys from Boston. The J Geils Band, it was called "Musta Got Lost", listen to it and tell me I am wrong.

YouTube - Musta Got Lost - J Geils Band

Music is not owned by a race or a person, it is universal. Music is something that can touch us all, that means it is owned by us all. Why would you deny anyone that freedom, that music? Stop being a douche and look for everyone to participate in joy.

A Surprise for Sunday - I Had to Preach

I woke up early today and had a text message on my phone. The lead pastor of our church was taken to the emergency room and he wanted me to lead the service today. I was absolutely unprepared as I wasn't going to speak until next week and I hadn't even decided what I am going to speak on next week.

When I got to the church I was told that the pastor had been released from the hospital and was resting at home. I said that if he showed up at the church he was going to get a piece of my mind. The service went well and we all enjoyed some home made fruit salad afterwards.

The service was a simple one and although I rarely post about religion on this blog, I wish to summarize it for my dear readers. I turned to the congregation and asked them what they would do if the lead pastor had died. We are a small church and it is primarily Hispanic. I should point out that the services are in Spanish and I have to be translated because I don't speak Spanish.

I asked the congregation if they understood that it was their church and not the pastors. I mentioned how Paul started churches and might have only visited them once or twice. A church is not a building, it is not a pastor, it is the congregation of believers. The pastor may be responsible for advising and teaching; but, it is the congregations responsibility to bring people in and participate together in doing the work of the Lord.

You can go to church everyday of your life and hear as many sermons as possible and it still will not make you a Christian. You can be as sinless as possible and still not be a Christian. If you are truly a Christian then you will be of service to others. If this world is truly a spiritual battle then I cannot understand why anyone would go in unarmed. Our service to others and our living our beliefs is our armor and weapons.

Everyone told me the service went well and I was relieved. I joke a lot in my services and I always worry that the jokes wont be understood, I worry my humor will be lost in the translation; but, so far so good. I joke because, while I am not a fire and brimstone sort of a person, I deliver messages of responsibility and relationship. I am not there to make people feel good about themselves or beat them up for past sins, I am there to tell them what it means to be a Christian and explain parts of the bible that they may not have understood.

After the service someone came up to me and thanked me for my sermon. He told me that he thought I was a good speaker and thought it was interesting that I was able to take anything available and preach on it. I didn't know how to explain it to him. It is like this blog, I don't plan it out. I know what I believe and everything else is just an example.

That was all just a lead in to say this. I haven't read the news today and have nothing on my mind. Oh and we have a new follower. Hello Raye. Welcome to a look into my twisted little mind at work.

Saying Goodbye

I spent the last couple of days with one of my children. We had a nice time and then she had to leave because she is moving somewhere new. I took her to the train station and kissed her goodbye. I felt sad when she left, I always do. I have had to say goodbye to a lot of people in the last few years. Saying goodbye is always hard.

I post this link for my youngest, it is a favorite of hers.

YouTube - The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (2009 Stereo Remaster)

It is at moments like this that I think about what it was like for my parents when I (the youngest) moved out. All of my children are adults, no more kids for me. That time has passed and I did the job I did on trying to raise them and be a good example. In the end, they will take from it what they will.

YouTube - Paul Anka - Times of your life

Just a short thought, I plan a longer post tonight.

Does Heroin Really Make You Happy?

Not too long ago someone asked me if I was happy. I thought about it and said "No". I am not unhappy; but, I would not say I am happy. I am content and at peace and those are good things; but, happy, no I am not sure I even know what it feels like to be happy. The person I was talking to said that "it" (happiness) wasn't a priority of mine. I had to agree, it is not a priority. Taking care of myself and others, doing the right thing and growing in understanding are priorities.

In reviewing my life I would have to say that I lived a life of constant and enormous stress. Eventually the stress became so severe that it blew one of my eyes out. The stress was willingly lived, I understood that my path was not the easy one and I took it because I thought it was the right one. When I thought I was going to die, I was happy with who I was. I lived my life as me and helped others. Joy was reserved for heaven if that is what it meant.

I was wrong, not about my life; but, about joy. We should have joy in our hearts. I think the divorce and all the deaths kicked the joy out of me. That is only partly true, I think that until recently I wasn't that emotional a person in the first place. Emotions never seemed that important to me. As I was growing up I saw people being emotional and wasn't that impressed (do you sense a little autism in the Pimpernel). Lets say that I started with 30% joy in my life and life managed to kick it down to 5%.

Today I determined that I needed to be open to joy in my life. I have to clarify something, I am not unhappy, in fact I laugh quite often. I do not lack happiness, I lack joy. To me, "Joy" has an element of hope rather than momentary pleasure. I don't have any hope in this life for the lightheartedness of joy because there is nothing I see this world having to offer me and there is nothing I seek from it.

I had made all of these plans for my life and the divorce pretty much changed all of that as they were mainly around making my wife happy when I retired. I never cared about money, fame or obtaining any material thing. I also need to point out that I believe my ex-wife would prefer to think I was joyous, I do not believe she wants me unhappy and I do not wish her to be. In fact, I told her that I wished she and her new boyfriend joyfulness. That was actually the word I used and I meant it.

If you asked me what would make me happy, I would say "more sleep and more laughter". If you asked me what would make me joyous, I wouldn't have an answer. I sound so pitiful and it is not like that. I think to have joy, you must have passion and there is no longer anything I am passionate about, nothing to achieve and nothing to obtain. Nothing that matters more than my life and that is a life of service. That is a good life to live. Satisfying; but, with no goal anymore that is specific to bringing me joy. A life of duty and I am burnt out.

I have general goals; but, no specific goal anymore. I have always believed that if you were sad, the best thing you can do is go out and help someone else. I do that daily and am not sad. Joy is much more confusing to me. What do you do to make you glad to wake up in the morning, not what do you do to not kill yourself. There is a big difference.

When I get up in the morning, I usually think, "Great, one more day" except it is sarcasm that is coming from me. I wonder how many more fights I have left in me. I feel I fought my last big one and anything remaining can only be a joke. No challenge or only challenges that are not mine. As I prepare to retire I understand this only too well. Not enough time left for certain battles because they are someone else's, someone younger who will be there to finish it.

I have always said there are two types of people, the dangerous and the irrelevant. I am still dangerous; but, less relevant. The future will be for others as I tie up loose ends and then fade away. I am okay with that. Yet, I still wish for purpose in my life. I preach on the weekends and enjoy it; but, I have never felt called to do it. I was asked to and I knew I could and wanted to be of help; but, I do not spend all week looking forward to it. I don't dread it, I just don't feel driven to it. It does not fascinate my mind as it should. It is not my passion; but, I am pleased to be of assistance. It has certainly made me enjoy church more because it causes me to read and think about the bible.

I would have to say that the most purposeful I feel in my life is when I am preparing and writing this blog. I feel like I am doing something that someone else could not, express myself in a way unique to me that will be of value to someone else. Perhaps joy is more a question of enjoying the process. I have enjoying the process, it is a chore, a thing to be dealt with in order to achieve a goal even when the goal has no personal benefit. Joy occurs when your role in the process fits your personality and your dreams and goals. I have no more personal goals.

What do you do when you have given your all, regardless of outcome? What do you do when you have no more personal goals? What do you do when you transition from dangerous to irrelevant? General MacArthur said that old generals just faded away. Is that my fate? To just fade away, to rest and be petted. How sad for an old sheep dog. How sad.

I should have gone out on my shield, I should have died fighting. What do you do with a working dog when it can no longer do it's job? How do you think the dog feels about that? The urge is still there, it is it's nature; but, the heart is no longer there. The last battle should be to the death, there should be a battle worthy of one's life. How can anyone choose to be irrelevant, that is to choose hell. Think about the intro to this blog, "You Matter". I did not look; but, I know I said that because you do, you matter and so do I and so does every sentient being that ever existed.

What is the greatest hope you can have, what will last you through eternity? I think it should be that by loving others you increase the total amount of love in the universe. That we individually can create more love than existed without us and I have lived my life to do that. What does it mean if I have failed? It is bedtime and I have run out of thoughts for the moment. Have a great weekend and have joy.

A New Follower - I am honored

As I was logging in to the blog today I noticed the site had acquired a new follower. I checked the profile and it turns out to be a lovely young lady who is a real writer. It also appears she is a Christian as am I. I think I felt intimidated for a moment, intimidated to have a real author reading my stuff. I am not generally an insecure person as my readers may have guessed.

I searched her on the net and read one of her poems about love called "When I thought of You". I rather liked it. I liked the sentiment and the way she said it. I am not the same kind of writer. I can get my thoughts together and explain myself; but, I am not as good at expressing myself, I don't do well expressing the feel of an emotion.

Welcome Ms Kuehlke. It is an honor to have you read my paltry words. My little blog here is not advertised anywhere, has no real theme and is not as consistent as I would wish. I know a writer should write everyday; but, somedays I just don't have anything to say. Please feel free at anytime to give me advice on my writing by sending a comment. I should add something, I allow anonymous followers *don't know who most of them are", anonymous comments and don't use real names. I only mentioned yours because it is already on display and I must assume that you knew that.

I have never really done this before; but, in honor or your joining I will release some general information about myself. Firstly, I am incredibly handsome. I am tall and muscular with a keen mind and a stand up comedians persona. People love me the minute they see me. In my spare time I sell Mexican beer on television. I am......

I am in my early 50s, short and bald. I am just another old analyst who writes boring contracts and instruction manuals and lengthy, boring reports. This blog is my tool for loving the written word, it is my opportunity to write without rules; but, just to write. I write about things that I think people should consider. I try to inform and amuse and the focus is on inform. I have been told that my writing sounds the same as talking to me in person, I leave that as always to the reader who knows me to decide.

One final thing about my writing, it is freeflow and I don't grammer check. Each post gets one chance and I don't remember every correcting anything after I publish it. I reside in California along with my dog and a friend. I am not on a no-fly list; but, I am on a Watch List and I do not know the reason; but, I figured if they wanted to watch, they might enjoy watching this blog. That is the first time that I have let anyone know that.

Dear Ms. Kuehlke (I do hope I pronounced that properly), I do not know what caused you to notice or read this silly little blog of mine; but, I want you to know that I take my readers seriously and I hope to bring things to all of your attentions that you might not otherwise have noticed. My next post is going to be about how I don't know what joy is.

Lynn Tilton and Patriarch Partners

I was talking to a dear friend today and mentioned a woman I had recently heard about named Lynn Tilton, she is the head of a company called Patriarch Partners. I told him I would post some information on her and this is it.

Ms. Tilton owns about 47 different companies in as many industries as you can imagine. She buys companies that manufacture in the United States that are getting ready to go out of business, fixes them up and turns them around. She is committed to creating good jobs for Americans and has been compared to Warren Buffet. I don't spend a lot of time praising people on this site; but, I will absolutely praise her focus and intent.

Part of what destroyed this country was the selling off of our manufacturing abilities. During the 80s "investors" bought U.S. companies with the sole intent of selling the building and equipment which were worth more than the annual profit. Short term profits over the long term profitability of the United States. Ms. Tilton seems to take the opposite approach (she also likes to wear very short skirts which is okay with me).

Here is the link to her companies website which includes a bio on her. Patriarch Partners.

Ms. Tilton is also seeking to hire and executive assistant. I would consider applying except, I don't like to travel much anymore. If you are interested, here is a link to a story about the job.

LAObserved - Looking for work? Lynn Tilton needs an executive assistant

If there is some young gun out there that has the right stuff for the job, they would be better off working for her than taking a job on Wall Street. At least at the end of your career you could talk about all the jobs you created rather than all the people whose pensions you lost.

Gene Modification is Good For Investors

Silk from goat milk. Doesn't that just sound wrong. If they can modify goats to produce silk, what could they modify humans to do? What if they could modify humans to never be depressed? Your children or parents die and it doesn't effect you at all. What if they could modify us to be always happy? You could be tortured in prison and enjoy it.

With each genetically modified thing comes the opportunity to create a new virus that can skip across species, just like AIDS did. The question truly is not if, it is when. However, there is a lot of money to be made in the meantime. The linked short promotional video below is from Fidelity Investments, it is less than three minutes.

YouTube - Thinking Big: Synthetic Biology - Fidelity Investments

There is a link to their company website just bellow the video.

I Know, I Haven't Written in a Bit

The truth is that I have been socializing. In addition, I haven't seen anything in the news worth writing about yet. Sure the Greeks voted for an austerity government; but, they are far from forming a coalition and quickly running out of time. Microsoft has announced they are coming out with a new tablet computer, eh. I am also aware that the United Nations wants to take over the internet, I already wrote about that. And now the United Nations wants to regulate small arms (handguns). Plenty of people are reporting on that. So, lets listen to music.

YouTube - Jose Feliciano - light my fire

YouTube - Devo - [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction (Video)

YouTube - The Flying Lizards - Money


YouTube - Ray Stevens - Misty


YouTube - Linda Ronstadt Alison

YouTube - The Sex Pistols - My Way

A Dinner With My Ex

It wasn't really dinner, I guess it was Brunch. My ex-wife, two of my children and one their husbands and I all had brunch together. I thought it went very well, I am glad that my children got to see us all together and we had a pleasant time. I wished my ex-wife well with her new boyfriend and told her about a job opportunity for her.

My ex-wife was a triathlete, she is also a fitness trainer. She has been in good shape and lost some weight. She looked a little thin, this is not the Pimpernel being a jerk, she told me she had lost six pounds in two weeks because of her job. The thing is that when you see someone everyday, you don't notice the little changes. If you haven't seen someone in a bit, you notice the changes more. I wondered what changes she noticed in me. I cannot see the changes in me; but, I am sure I have. Perhaps I am slightly balder, perhaps my stomach is slightly larger. I do not know what she saw. I certainly look better than I did three years ago or four years ago, I was at the edge of death and looked it.

While we were eating I told my ex-wife about some technology stuff, she got it. She told me she was going back to school and I am sure she will do well. I think it was good that we all got together, I think it is good that my ex-wife and I can be civil with one another and discuss things, we knew each other for most of our lives. When we departed, I thought I saw a look of sadness on my ex; but, it may have just been my imagination and I have no idea what she was thinking. Perhaps she has regrets, I do not know. She was wrong about something though, I told her I was retiring in two and a half years and she said she had three jobs; she forgot, when I retire she gets half my pension. It won't be much but she gets half of it. She will be able to retire much younger than she thinks.

I had been told that her boyfriend was a Vegan. My ex always wanted to be a vegetarian and I figured this was probably a good thing that they could agree on. I mentioned that all I knew about the guy was that he was a Vegan (actually I also know his first name, age and that he took Yoga classes - nothing meaningful). She told me he wasn't; but, wanted to be one. I hadn't meant to bring up any issues, it was just small talk. I just wanted to wish him and her well.

My ex-wife and I have moved on, our lives have changed and we have moved and we have had a life apart. After brunch, my ex thanked me, for what I do not know. It may have been for buying brunch; but, I bought a whole heck of a lot of meals for us and she should have known I would pay and I am sure she did. She may have said thank you for having us all get together. She may have said thank you for all I did do for us over the past 25 years, I don't know what she was thinking when she said it. I said you are welcome and it applies to all of the reasons I mentioned or another one completely different.

Well, if you have continued reading then lets turn to something completely different. Lets talk about those transhumanists and what they think the future should be. I am going to provide a link to a video, it is about what they think the future should be and you are I are not important to it, we are to be virtual rather than real. They wish to give you immortality in exchange, they want your mind. Sounds crazy; but, it is what they believe. They believe that in the near future they will be able to download your mind onto a computer. This is sci-fi and bad science thinking. They believe that you can be replicated in a computer. This is mainstream science and they think people are nothing more than calculators.

Enjoy the video, YouTube - 2045: A New Era for Humanity

The Weekend and a Hodgepodge of News

First up I thought we might talk about the freeway system of tomorrow. Lets read this from the Huffington Post - V2V: Department Of Transportation's New Communication System Helps Cars Avoid Crashes By Talking To Each Other. The author gushes over the fact that the government wants to put a sensor in every car that allows it to prevent accidents and this thing records everything you do from your speed to where other cars are around you.

This next article is just fun. A strange radar return from the Baltic sea was obtained last year showing what appears to be a UFO on the bottom of the ocean. No big deal, strange returns happen to sonar readings. So right now a team of oceanographers are in the area, a year later, with plans to dive and see whatever it is and they did. Two days ago the group posted the following, "The divers are now down and investigating the circle and reports from the ship say they are really amazed. There is definitely something unusual hiding at the seabed – a Mystery Beneath." Here is a link to their site - The Ocean Explorer. With the movie Prometheus coming out today which assumes that God was an alien race that created us, what a mashup this could make. What if they came back with proof that it was an alien craft that had crashed 50,000 years ago and had "proof" that the aliens had tampered with our DNA to evolve us. Would you believe it? There were also reports that Russian and American navies were in the area.

Then we have this interesting article from Business Wire via Yahoo News - Launches Banking App for U.S. Bank for iPad. Do any of my readers still doubt that we are going to go cashless and fairly soon and guess what, having gold will be meaningless. You cannot eat gold and gold trading is regulated. You will pay your taxes with electronic currency and if you don't pay your taxes, you cannot leave the country. Just some things to keep my dear readers amused.

Tough Call - New Post and a Video

I had to think real hard about posting the link that I am going to post. I found out about a video on YouTube, the video was over two hours long; but, because the Pimpernel does care about his readers, I watched the thing. I skipped maybe 10% after I found some garbage in the middle of the video that was just stupid. The rest of the video had collections of videos and other useful information. The title of the video and the garbage in the middle made me question if I was going to post it and maybe that is the reason why the video is polluted with nonsense in the middle. The bible tells us to be discerning and that means that we must take the junk with the good and figure out which is which.

I trust my readers to think, I trust them to be able to sift out the wheat from the chaff. At a minimum I want them to know what is going on and will critique what I post. Here is the bottom line, the video has some really good information regarding biometrics and RFID chips and even a cashless society; but, some of the video (not much and in the middle) has some idiotic stuff about reptilians. I don't believe that anyone is possessed by reptilian aliens, demons perhaps; but, not aliens. So, I had to ask myself if I would let a little garbage get in the way of posting the link to the video and decided that my readers are smart enough to figure out what is important. I recommend you watch the whole video, even after the nonsense in the middle, the video has some good information regarding the issues. You decide if I was right.

YouTube - RFID CHIP EVERYONE-FEDERAL LAW

Some of the points in the video that were very interesting involved a lady who was investigating RFID use in the world and didn't want it to go down to the item level. Yep, they are looking at tagging everything with an RFID chip, perhaps that could explain why the internet needed so many IP addresses that it could include everything in the universe and more. The second half of the video has a nice little "what if" movie and then some good explanations on how biometrics work with RFID to be a verification. I hope you watch the whole thing and ignore the dumb parts (there are not many), it will give you an idea of just how far along technology is.

Triangles and a Cryptic Pimpernel

Someone that I met on another internet site contacted me once. They wanted to invite me to meet some others, I have reason to believe that they follow this blog as they were told about it. If they are still reading it, I want them to know that I never discussed them or their ways with anyone outside of their group. I made no oaths; but, I say what I mean and I mean what I say and if they still read my blog, they know I never mentioned anything here before. If you do read this, give my best wishes to a lady in Israel and a lady in Mexico.

The Eurozone and the End of Democracy

The difference between freedom and slavery is not the difference between being in chains or running around wherever you want. The difference is whether or not you get a say in the matter, it is about voting. Spain needs a bailout as will Italy and Ireland and Greece again. Germany and France have agreed to help; but, there is a price tag. The price tag is that the debts of all nations will be faced together and backed by Germany. In exchange nations would lose their right to make their own budgets, those would be decided in Brussels by other countries.

Germany is using the economic crisis in order to become the head of Europe. What they could not do through warfare they have achieved through peaceful means and much better intent; however, as one former German Prime Minister pointed out, it could mean the end to all of them. At a minimum, it means the end of true democracy for many Europeans. Imagine if the United States had to ask the United Nations if our budget was acceptable? The economic troubles in Europe are being used to force all of Europe to become a single nation politically, economically and socially without letting the people decide and vote on it themselves.

This is what the world will look like when all of the currencies fail, there will be a call for greater decision making by the United Nations (or the International Monetary Fund) over how much debt countries can have and what they will be limited to if they are bailed out (given even more debt).

The Guardian - Germany weighs up federal Europe plan to end debt crisis

How About a Little Quickie?

Came across an article from Mobile News - "A New Plan To Make Stolen Phones Useless?" The FCC is worried that someone might steal your cell phone and wants to help you protect it. Sounds like garbage to me. They never wanted to protect me from having my laptop stolen or my radio or my television, why should they care if someone steals my phone? Rather then just reading the article and thinking "Great, my phone will be safer" ask yourself why the FCC should care.

The article says that the problem is that if someone steals your phone, they can replace the sim card and continue using the phone. The proposed solution is to give every phone a unique identification so that they could not use the phone with a new sim card. Oh and the government is going to create a database of every phone that has been stolen. Sounds like a lot of expense and trouble for something that isn't a problem. Right now if your phone is stolen you can have service terminated immediately and you don't get charged.

What this really means is that when your phone is used for something, if you haven't reported it stolen, you won't be able to claim that someone stole your phone. Now why is this important, simple, your phone will be your cash, we have already talked about that. Now, lets say you want to buy some drugs and transfer money to a drug dealer, if he gets caught you won't be able to say that it wasn't you who paid him, you will have to say it was you or who you let borrow your phone. No black market use of electronic cash.

I think most of us would be okay with that; but, it also means that individual phones could be denied service. Maybe they prohibit hate speech and prevent you from using a phone. No, it will start with prohibiting child molesters from using phones except for "safe" numbers. We will all be happy with that, the real tyranny will come later.

Home Again and Not

I left town for a couple of days to see an old friend and have just returned. It was a great trip and very relaxing. We met some interesting people and had some great food. If you are ever in Laguna Beach, I recommend that you try the food at the Laguna Hotel's "Claes Ovation" restaurant. I didn't stay at the hotel; but, the view and food were fantastic.

Because of my trip, I have not been reading the news. I do not know what is going on for the past few days. What happens when I retire, I will pay even less attention to the world as it matters less and less. Peace.