When You Change Things Are Still The Same

At John Muir Fundamental we had the biggest playground that any elementary kid could ever imagine. It would take me a whole recess session to walk around the borders of this play ground. This upper case “l” shaped playground had in one corner a huge baseball diamond that was designated for organized soft ball games and on the other side we had a smaller baseball diamond in which fifth graders roamed and played kickball. In the middle was an endless field of grass that many students tread on by powering their little legs that pumped their little hearts in a chase to the nearest kid to shout “you’re it!” Every field was surrounded by playground equipment. There were monkey bars, jungle gyms, three swing sets (small and large), pull up bars, and tunnels. This playground was my heaven. That was twelve years ago. The last time I visited my elementary school was in 2003 I was in shock at what had happened since I left. I’m guessing the school district put John Muir Fundamental into a “washing time machine” because everything had shrunk and throughout the years it made everything seem as though it had changed.

When I went back everything looked different. My frame of mind had changed but the physical surroundings that I had left behind twelve years earlier had remained the same. I looked for details that proved the field had been cut in half and everything else that told me this place was renovated within the last twelve years. Yeah, sure they added a couple of more classrooms because of the increasing student population but everything else was still the same. The lunch tables were still in front of the fourth grade classrooms, the trailer housed bathrooms were still next to the handball courts, and the portable classrooms 110 – 115 were still in the same row bordered by an endless walkway starting from 110 all the way to 115. At one point in my six year tenure here I was riding little bicycles with training wheels that were provided by the school but I have changed and now I drive a four door sedan that speeds up to 140 miles per hour provided by my income. In essence things changed because I made them change.

Many innovations have come around within the last two centuries that have had an impact on our social spectrum. Many of these inventions or ideas have been proposed to better our world wide society; but as we look around and take notes on the people that live in this world of innovation we notice that the things we change end up changing us and in most cases for the worse.

Issues like global warming and education have been in the hot seat and in very intense debate over the years. Modifying these conditions to significantly affect our society is all talk and talk is not cheap, its expensive. These global issues have been discussed many times and have been solved with ideas that will affect them for the better. We already know that recycling, bio-diesel, and electric cars work so, why are they not constituted into federal law? Many charter schools have dwarfed the success of public schools so, why hasn’t our government copied and pasted their success into our educational system? Countries are comprised with many different social institutions like education, health care, government, work, media, economies that deal with issues that occupy every second of our lives. Billions of people work with these institutions, including each other, creating an interconnection between the effects of ones creations and the lives of those who surround what was created. A lot of change has been made but not a lot has been monitored. Due to the rapid pace of life and the daily activities that consume it we tend to look at everything through the “rear view mirror” but if that rear view mirror was not invented time would have rear ended us.

With the wealth of information and the abundance of life that surrounds us I want to welcome you into a paradigm of change. Live and get inspired so that you can create an idea that will serve a purpose to you, your surroundings and that creates an effect to the rest of our society. It is our job as citizens of Earth to indulge our planet and its civilization with change that will enhance our living.

Recycling Shoulb Be Americas Favorite Pastime

Recycling should be one of our most favorite pastimes। It's already a favorite for those who inhabit the streets. But for those who aren’t in need of its financial reward it is simply a past time of putting cardboard boxes, plastics, glass and aluminum cans in their city provided recycling cans. But why isn’t recycling one of our favorite pastimes? Well, recycling is fairly recent, at least in modern times.

Recycling campaigns erupted during World War II because of shortages in resources caused by the World Wars। But that’s not why most people recycle today. Our country has a large population of people that go out of their way to recycle empty beer cans, soda cans, beer bottles, newspapers, and plastic beverage containers. Heck, they spend the money to consume these products they might as well put them to full use, and ladies and gentlemen that is what these people do. Who are these people? Well for the most part it would be safe to assume they are largely beer enthusiasts, Americans in lower income brackets, caffeine junkies (soda caffeine), the newspaper reading community (grandmas and grandpas) and the homeless. Oh, we can’t forget those who call themselves business men. Those who recycle scrap metal and cardboard. A small percentage of these “business men” steal this scrap metal from abandoned buildings, industrial warehouses (air conditioners and electric polls on rooftops) and wherever they can see these potential dollar bills lying around.

In our current times our so called powerful economy is in what they call a recession। Many people are losing their jobs and are out there struggling looking for new jobs. Most of these people have to rely on working at retail shops which is a mystery considering people are not spending their money. Other jobs like data entry positions, warehousing, and miscellaneous part-time jobs at night time and part-time jobs on the weekend seem to be available.

Largely due to active environmentalists many companies and individuals are “going green” in which recycling is a part of। But recycling today is still not a federal law. Recycling has given us the impression that it is a privilege to those who take part in the consumer economy and for those who just go out of their way to recycle without investing in it. These current times should influence a blind shout-out to those who do participate in our consumer economy by giving back to themselves.

Beer enthusiasts already caught on long time ago. They spend their mighty dollars on their favorite beers and go out of their way to recycle those cans to help buy more beers. This mostly influences these people to continue drinking but that’s another story for another day. Aluminum prices have a forecast that would set 2008’s average at $1.30 per lb. So if people are not going out of their way to fill up the city provided recycling bin they should start going out of their way now…on their behalf.

Today’s expenses like gas and mortgage payments are burning holes in our pockets so our extra money is lost। An extra $50 here and there from recycling can help take the kids or girlfriend out to the movies, pay a bill that just popped up, or even give a homeless individual that extra change they asked for. These are things that most of us probably couldn’t have done before we started recycling.

Our kids may be unhappy or could be getting into trouble out on the streets because we’re not recycling! Our girlfriend or spouse may leave us because we’re not taking them to a dinner and a movie every now and then! So start recycling! In these times people should reap benefits like this. It’s crazy not to. You may lose your house or maybe even your kids.

I Want To Kiss Your Ass!

As our population increases there seems to be more and more drivers who try to live their life on the edge. Some people might think spontaneous lane changers who move from one lane to another or blinding people with their high beam death traps gives them a thrill, but for me there’s nothing better than riding someone’s ass.

I love ass kissing because when my headlights are on a cars ass it lets the driver in front of me know to either speed up or move out of my way. When I am able to see their face clearly through their rear view mirror I look back at them with a sigh on my face that without a doubt states “I am riding your ass so that you can get the fuck out of my way.” It’s hilarious because before they have the chance to slow down to piss me off I squeeze my gigantic SUV between their car and the one next to me, change lanes, speed up, and look through my rear view mirror at the havoc I just created and left behind. Most of the time I look back and I see a chain of cars that would easily break the world record of 115,000 bras that were linked together in Paphos, Cyprus. I’ve seen other drivers try to kiss other drivers asses when they are on the same freeway as me but nobody gets as close as I do. They kiss ass while I make love to the car in front of me. I rub the paint off of the cars ass without the drivers knowing. My front license plate looks like a palette of paint because of all of the ass kissing I do on a daily basis. Well not exactly but I get pretty damn close. But nothing gets the adrenaline pumping through my veins more than the element of surprise.

Each driver out there is different. When I get up in the morning and jump into my car for a full day of ass kissing I never know what the driver ahead of me is going to do and it usually puts a big smile on my face. This keeps my heart in great shape and I can’t find another workout better than this. I work out from the convenience of my own vehicle and never have to spend any extra time to stay fit because after a full day of intense ass kissing you don’t need to go to the gym. The muscles throughout my whole body each get a small work out frame especially my arms and calves. My arms bulk up from the thousand pound grip I have on my steering wheel and my calves become as hard as rock because of the vigorous motion that keep my legs skipping from the accelerator to the brake pedal.

According to Car Accidents Online, they reported statistics on car accidents in 1999 that stated there were 6,289,000 police reported car crashes and 6 hundredths of a percent of that number were fatal. Almost 50% of those fatal crashes were alcohol related which lowers the chance of my ass kissing motor techniques being fatal. I have a better chance getting struck by lightening or winning the lottery than causing a death due to my ass kissing.

People often ask me, “why don’t you just leave your house early instead of kissing ass all the way to work or why don’t you just honk and wave to the driver in front of you signaling that he needs to move faster?” I respond to their solutions but it never seems to work. I usually leave my house at 8AM to get to work by 9AM. If I leave my house fifteen minutes earlier than usual I end up driving next to the same motorists who drive in that time frame. If I leave even earlier I will hit the early morning traffic with the parents that need to take their kids to school at 8AM. Therefore I have to leave even earlier and my body is not ready to wake up before dawn to leave the house by 6AM. I’ll be wasting time, losing sleep, and I’ll be at work almost 3 hours early. Their other solution never works because other drivers never pay attention to the horn around them let alone knowing where it is coming from.

Any wreck-less driving kills and we know it does. Think of the ass kisser as having a chance to close in the gaps between cars. Riding someone’s ass is almost never fatal so don’t be afraid to drive around us ass kissers. If you are riding behind us we will most likely make room for you to speed up after we change lanes. We can get you through your daily commute without rushing at high speeds and you will arrive to your destination on time without breaking any laws. Today’s freeways need a dozen of us here and there so that we can lead other drivers past those who drag their lives on the pavement like a snail. If you do die while riding someone’s ass you’ll be the hero because you’re the one dying trying to get to your destination while the snail-like driver is still commuting to their destination causing a parade of cars and distress to other drivers. So the next time you see an ass kisser put your hazard lights on in salute to their deeds on the road.

The Social and Economic Effects of Legalizing Marijuana

Time and time again most pot smokers ask themselves why or when marijuana should be legalized. Most people haven’t thought of the effects that Marijuana can have besides the usual ones. This isn’t a cry for legalizing the sticky green but an insight on the effects of what some say is the most powerful plant on earth.

What would happen if marijuana was legalized? Would everybody become a pot head, drug dealer, or a drug lord? This legalization would inevitably add a new and powerful industry to our draining economy. Drugs are already a legalized and powerful industry, well, the pharmaceutical industry. You have a headache? Go buy some Tylenol and take a couple of doses here and there and your headache will go away. Sounds effective right? How about this: have a long day at work? Go buy some Marijuana from your local Walgreens or Rite Aid, take a couple of hits here and there and your stress will go away.

What would this create? Many problems as they would say. But, it would also create many solutions. Then again, more solutions create more problems and so on and so on. Well we deal with that kind of stuff everyday right? It is what life is all about. Now, we’re not saying go shoot your neighbor because he’s playing his music too loud. There are some things you just have to draw the line on and think about the consequences of crossing that line. What would happen if we crossed this line?

Well these are some of things (among others) that would happen if we all crossed the Marijuana line and legalized the damn plant:

We would create a powerful industry. The Marijuana Industry as opposed to the Tobacco Industry. Marijuana companies would be popping up like weeds! Along with creating an industry would be creating a workforce. Farm lands would be needed as well as the laborers needed to help grow and distribute the plant. Pharmaceutical companies would then distribute the plant to pharmacies like Rite Aid or Walgreens and these places are going to need an extra helping hand too. The needed expertise of Marijuana would then have its effects on Universities, Community Colleges, and Certificate Programs. They are going to call on the experts to help teach classes for our future pharmacists of tomorrow. This will increase enrollment which helps the local economy as well. Purchasing Marijuana and paying a proposed Marijuana Tax would be great for the economy but that’s if we can get our politicians to stop digging their hands into these tax buckets.

Socially this can create a good vibe. Smokers would be largely at peace and depart from conflict with other members of our society due to its relaxing effects. This can be an important result to the use of Marijuana as we are a society in which conflicts are always arising and ongoing. We would be eating more often and spending money on munchies is always good for the economy.

Although you may see some positive outcomes by throwing this plant into the front lines of our economy there are some consequences that we must reap. Whether or not you may think this is a gateway drug it still has some casualties. There are many people out there that may think their body is immune to the drugs that surround them because this green plant had no effect on them. Their invincibility may be the case when it comes to Marijuana but not for other illegal substances. Drugs are too powerful for the human body and mind. We were not made to for it.

This legalizing case also brings up notions of health problems like heart disease due to the high levels of cyanide. Other toxins that can cause fatal harm are ammonia and nitrogen oxides which can cause lung cancer. Who knows what the legal distribution of Marijuana will do to the already gigantic illegal drug industry. Some people may go crazy over the distribution of wealth due to this proposed change.

Socially this may be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing. Smokers may become lazy, broke, and overweight. Some may decide to drive. That’s never good. Marijuana does have the tendency to get you to relax and sometimes if addicted it may get you to relax too much. We’re human. We need to be happy and complacent with what life brings us. But that also brings back the concept of Marijuana having the power to do that all by itself. This, in the end, concludes to a fight with ourselves over which path can make our lives easier on us.