Last night at work, I spotted members of the local church holding an addiction seminar at the recreation center.
This church offers the cure of Jesus Christ for addictions.
Sadly they brought pamphlets, which would lead to pollution so I threw the four that I found in the nearest garbage can.
IMHO the cure for addiction is to be of service to other people. Even keeping the earth green is a higher calling. Yet a religious organization that is not eco-friendly is not keeping the earth that God created clean.
That these church members don't get this shows that their cure is merely a substitution of a deadly addiction with godliness and its potential to be abused.
All the paper pollution that these ex-addicts left behind show that they are the road to a spiritual addiction which will blind them to true service to their fellow mankind.
For godly people are sorely tempted to consider themselves better than a sinner who abases himself by praying meekly, "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner."
Showing posts with label addiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label addiction. Show all posts
20141221
Journal Entry for December 18 2014 (satire)
December 18, 2014 - 1711H:
It is not technology that is my problem. Rather, it is my willingness to think technology is worth spending time which could have been spent attending to more important things.
None of my psychological issues have to do with anything else.
Instead, they have to do with the same problems that I have experienced with my computer in response to the change to the short winter hours. This has led me to spend more time in my bedroom on my computer and with my smartphones.
No one is responsible for any behavior changes which I am now experiencing except for myself.
However, I enjoy writing in my journal because it relieves the psychic pain — intense emotional anguish — that comes from knowing that using my smartphones instead of my computer does not improve my behavior.
Writing about such anguish and the feelings of guilt and regret is stressful since my feelings about spending more time with technology have been barely exposed.
Even so, the main feeling which emerges from this stress is anxiety wit the feeling that I should have completed an errand outside my home rather than stay at home. As a result of this anxiety, I am sometimes find myself unable to think of going out on that errand after spending most of the day on my smartphones.
Currently I do not feel frustrated as much as I was a half hour ago. That my reaction to the anxiety was to take a 100mg dose of gabapentin to reduce its severity is a positive action. This is because gabapentin helps calm me down.
Mainly I do not feel as anxious as I was before I took that pill!
Therefore the anxiety is not much of an issue.
...
There is no great purpose in analyzing in depth the imbalance between self and others which is apparent here. Instead, the solution is to moderate use of my smartphones.
If I were to go in depth about their use then I would be creating more than I am capable of handling due to the fear that I may uncover something I know about myself but lays hidden in the back of my mind.
Of course, it may be apparent that I act selfishly. This day (Thursday) is the first day of the week that I am free to do my own thing.
Most of my time on the smartphones was not as productive as I wished it to be — at this time I want a rooted Nexus 4. Yet I am over having a rooted phone since it is more productive to have Android 5.0 on it.
Of course, I no longer feel guilty for spending time away from my LDS studies. I have worked that out too.
So I am thankful for the benefits that this writing has given me, an outlet for artistic expression.
This journal entry is worthwhile in time spent exploring my current mood (anxiety about being on my smartphones and fear that I may be missing out on life).
Currently I am going to return to my regular Thursday away from my technology for about a half hour or more. Such writing is productive because I have written three journal pages. Such a positive outcome is worth whatever fear that I had at the beginning of this journal entry.
...
On December 20, 2014 I finally completed that errand which consisted mainly of getting my prescription.
It is not technology that is my problem. Rather, it is my willingness to think technology is worth spending time which could have been spent attending to more important things.
None of my psychological issues have to do with anything else.
Instead, they have to do with the same problems that I have experienced with my computer in response to the change to the short winter hours. This has led me to spend more time in my bedroom on my computer and with my smartphones.
No one is responsible for any behavior changes which I am now experiencing except for myself.
However, I enjoy writing in my journal because it relieves the psychic pain — intense emotional anguish — that comes from knowing that using my smartphones instead of my computer does not improve my behavior.
Writing about such anguish and the feelings of guilt and regret is stressful since my feelings about spending more time with technology have been barely exposed.
Even so, the main feeling which emerges from this stress is anxiety wit the feeling that I should have completed an errand outside my home rather than stay at home. As a result of this anxiety, I am sometimes find myself unable to think of going out on that errand after spending most of the day on my smartphones.
Currently I do not feel frustrated as much as I was a half hour ago. That my reaction to the anxiety was to take a 100mg dose of gabapentin to reduce its severity is a positive action. This is because gabapentin helps calm me down.
Mainly I do not feel as anxious as I was before I took that pill!
Therefore the anxiety is not much of an issue.
...
There is no great purpose in analyzing in depth the imbalance between self and others which is apparent here. Instead, the solution is to moderate use of my smartphones.
If I were to go in depth about their use then I would be creating more than I am capable of handling due to the fear that I may uncover something I know about myself but lays hidden in the back of my mind.
Of course, it may be apparent that I act selfishly. This day (Thursday) is the first day of the week that I am free to do my own thing.
Most of my time on the smartphones was not as productive as I wished it to be — at this time I want a rooted Nexus 4. Yet I am over having a rooted phone since it is more productive to have Android 5.0 on it.
Of course, I no longer feel guilty for spending time away from my LDS studies. I have worked that out too.
So I am thankful for the benefits that this writing has given me, an outlet for artistic expression.
This journal entry is worthwhile in time spent exploring my current mood (anxiety about being on my smartphones and fear that I may be missing out on life).
Currently I am going to return to my regular Thursday away from my technology for about a half hour or more. Such writing is productive because I have written three journal pages. Such a positive outcome is worth whatever fear that I had at the beginning of this journal entry.
...
On December 20, 2014 I finally completed that errand which consisted mainly of getting my prescription.
20141124
When Social Drinking Becomes A Sociopathy (satire)
Rather than a short disclaimer, this article is a satire on the dangers of the risky behavior in drinking known as preloading when social drinkers are determined to party by drinking before a public event due to high alcohol prices at the even and/or strict liquor laws. After my monologue on preloading, I will rant about social drinkers who become problem drinkers, which is when social drinking becomes a sociopathy. Finally, I will give my take about American Psychopath and the rebooted Halloween movies to explain my conclusions about problem drinking.
Before I move onto the body of the rant itself, my exposure to alcohol and drugs needs to be shared because I truly care for the social drinker.
During my life, I have mostly been a light drinker thanks to intolerance of alcohol due to my Asian physiology when one or two drinks often made me drunk. As well, I practiced safe drinking because I was never exposed to peer pressure over social drinking.
Apart from the rare forays into drinking until my early 30s, my drinking days only occurred around social events. 2007 was a great challenge because of reconnecting with a friend I had met 10 years earlier who is a moderate drinker.
Today, I don't drink alcohol and am totally dry since June 2014 mainly because I believe in sobriety and have continued prayer and meditation to distract me from seeking comfort in the bottle.
Because I had a brief history of binge drinking and other risky behavior until I stopped drinking in 2009, I retain the privilege of experience to be the party pooper in regards to drinking. However, the following rant is because I am stone cold sober.
Addictive behaviors occur long before children are introduced to alcohol and drugs around middle school (grades 5-7). Peer pressure only causes addictions when children want to fit in and socialize.
So I am glad that I chose to not drink until well into my 30s. YMMV.
Tolerance to alcohol occurs when a person who drinks needs more alcohol during regular drinking hours in addition to the copious amounts of drink at home. However, the myth that drinking is fun is encouraged by the fact that you only live once, an attitude that will be addressed later on in this rant.
According to the anti-drinking propaganda, it is said that risky drinking threatens people who once lived productive lives.
In aother myth, public health (doctors, nurses, hospitals) is anti-drinking. Actually public health recommends 1-2 drinks a day as being safer than drinking up to 14 drinks or more over a 60-hour period on the weekend, depending on whether everyone is in party mood, due to a public holiday or other event.
Perhaps it is more fun and entertaining to drink 1-2 drinks with each meal from breakfast, lunch and dinner, as long as the intended purpose is social drinking, be it at home or every day. For the purpose of social drinking is to be of good cheer, apparently.
As has been stated before, preloading behavior occurs when prices are high and laws are strict.
According to health officials, alcohol preloading is harmful, only if the drinker drinks more alcohol later on in the evening. Thus, the risk of excessive drinking is higher than not preloading. The resulting higher consumption levels increase risk for injuries and possibly death.
Strict alcohol laws increase the chance of preloading. Additionally, licensed establishments have a high risk of liability serving already inebriated patrons.
Thus, lowering alcohol prices tends to lower risk of preloading.
Therefore, liquor laws need to be moderated. Liquor prices need to be low enough to encourage less preloading but not so low as to encourage binge drinking. Additionally, both binge drinking and preloading need to be addressed through the use of propaganda advertisements.
It is less risky and cheaper to drink 1-2 drinks at bars, pubs and restaurants with affordable prices every day of the week than to preload on the weekend and risk higher levels of consumption.
From the viewpoint of the consumer, public education from middle school to college level should still discourage preloading and risk factors that may be encouraged by the "you only live once" myth (YOLO).
You do live once, but it is a factor that is disproved by preloading due to strict liquor laws and high alcohol prices.
Contrary to the myth that preloading is safe, more people risk dying from alcohol-related injuries including poisoning, fights at establishments and car accidents.
From the viewpoint of sobriety, preloading might indicate future risk for alcoholism when drinking also occurs during the rest of the week. However, I believe social drinkers are potential alcoholics when inebriated if they are led to the belief that drinking is so fun that every day must be a party in order for them to feel in control. After that suspension of disbelief, they may turn every evening into a party and the line blurs between social drinking and alcoholism.
However, the alcoholic will deny he is an alcoholic because of two pernicious attitudes about drinking: "everyone is doing it" and YOLO. However, a minority of people drink that much or more, while the majority of people may be their concered friends and family who are saddened by the fact that drink became more important than them.
I know of people who met in bars, had a few drinks, and flew in for a Vegas wedding, including Britney Spears who had hooked up with a high school friend, partied, got married and subsequently got the marriage annulled. Fortunately her Vegas wedding was not a career-breaker.
Despite all the late night talk show hosts joking about Spears at that time, the risk of ruined ratings reduced their call for less drinking. That's because the entertainment industry needs the extra revenue from alcohol sales and often considers safe drinking behavior to be an economic threat to their industry.
Yet safe drinking behavior is actually no threat to their industry because more social drinkers can spend each day drinking up to 6 drinks a day with meals per person and not lose sleep over preloading and binge drinking on weekends.
Also the purpose of buying liquor - preferably beer - at night is not to drink it all away before morning but to have enough alcohol to stay within the 6 drinks a day limit. Public drinking education should consist of math quizzes to meet that limit and stay within it, in order to maintain a healthy social drinking climate.
Indeed, the sly promotion of "drinking is fun" by a bar or club is done to obtain high drink sales to derive enough alcoholic revenue to offset the hourly minimum wage. Beer bongs, drinking shooters off hot models, and associated antics are actually done to encourage social drinking at levels which not too many social drinkers can sustain. Nor does ladies' night with half price on shooters promote safe drinking.
All this does is lead to a 1-5 percent of a party of revelers to encounter blackouts and all the mayhem that happens during blackouts, especially the ones that last a month, a year, or maybe even a decade or two.
Right now, I have to discuss sociopaths who drink, because they are the people who have lied to themselves so much that drinking is fun. One successful sociopath too many has said, "I like to have vodka in my cereal every morning." They thus center their lives around being the pernicious party animal.
Although the public health officials have labeled them "problem drinkers," their problem is the ability to believe the lies that they tell other people about their drinking. Since their world revolves around drinking and socializing, they are able to socially engineer a way to stay drunk throughout their lives and often turn binge drinking and preloading into performance art.
Along the way, alcoholic sociopaths give a bad rap to successful sociopaths like celebrities, business people and even Randolph Hearst, a publisher who made his money from alcohol advertisers before Prohibition but also made money by being a moral compass when Mae West came to New York City. Yet Mae West helped Hollywood make money by challenging the moral taboos about being a sexy and successful sociopath for the entertainment industry.
A marvelous Hollywood celebrity who was quite successful during her career is Tallulah Bankhead, who not only drank her way around Hollywood but also snorted her way around the secret party scenes, too. Being a relatively successful sociopath, she also slept her way from casting couch to the beds of other celebrities, men and women alike. Once she had to get a hysterectomy after a bad case of gonorrhea, and said in passing to the hospital surgeon "If you think this is going to stop my behavior, think again."
Thus, society must be ever vigilant about sociopaths who shall be detected during their first forays into social drinking before their white lies lead to the bigger whoppers they tell themselves once they totally buy into the YOLO attitude and make it their motto for life. For alcohol and sociopaths are a dangerous mix that may lead to risk of violence to themselves and their loved ones.
Anyway, I am all done with ranting and would like to thank Hollywood for popularizing social drinking (Jackass), cocaine (Traffik), risky behavior (American Pie), decadent hedonism (those crazy movies from the 30s involving dancing the shimmie while dressed in sheer fabric), and a sociopathy that fails so horribly that sexual psychopathy becomes confused with benign sociopathic behavior by the sociopath's victims (American Psychopath).
If it wasn't for Hollywood, then we wouldn't have all the failed sociopaths who crossed the line into their five minutes of fame. If it wasn't for the brilliance of American mainstream media to enshrine individualism as freedom from neo-conservative sheep mentality, then there wouldn't be the Craigslist killer meme.
In conclusion, I would like to insert a sober moment here to end this rant by stating that the sociopath is not a broken individual as a child. Rather, she is not a victim of child abuse, neglect or anything that horrible.
Rather, a sociopath learns early that society is based on white lies which help us to sleep at nights. When a child is fibbing, it is child abuse to force them to stop lying when few parents can stomach telling their children the truth too early but sometimes failing to figure out the truth about their society.
For a sociopath learns early in childhood that toeing the line comes with benefits and risks, including telling a white lie to ensure family harmony. What a brilliant career in big business awaits them, if only parents were taught from middle school about ethic and morals in a manner than benefits every child.
Indeed, when drinking becomes a sociopathy in middle school, parents should admit to the double standard and determine if they are narcissists, empaths or sociopaths instead of lying about these descriptions for what passes as normal human behavior.
Even so, "normal" is the biggest white lie to promote social harmony while leading to the stigma of the mentally ill without just cause. As is "denial" a white lie when declaring that a psychopath is sane.
Personality disorders are not a sign of insanity unless a person described as sociopathic are mistreated by former friends who can only see through the lies of the sociopath but have little insight into the white lies that lead to real whoppers like "the mentally ill are not really normal people".
Truth be told: Hollywood manufactured the propaganda that psychopaths are horrible people but the reboot of Halloween turn the story of a failed sociopath Michael Myers, who was neglected as a child but was molded by unprofessional therapy by Doctor Samuel Loomis and the incompetence of the State into a serial killer, the criminal psychopath.
However, American Psychopath is not an honest portrayal of sexual psychopathy because it leaves out the antihero's childhood. On the other hand the rebooted Halloween movies is only a portrayal of two kinds of sociopaths, the failed sociopath known as the criminal psychopath and serial killer Michael Myers and the successful sociopath, Dr Samuel Loomis.
Hollywood tells us white lies about sociopaths like Myers while showing Doctor Loomis as a successful sociopath. It also only documents the sexual psychopathy of the antihero in American Psychopath in adulthood, but offers no insight on the fact that he is a failed sociopath whose social drinking helped him to fit into urban society.
Those people who fail as sociopaths sometimes develop a psychopathy if they maladapt to the stress that society places on them. Otherwise, they would be make fine successful sociopaths such as many CEOs, world leaders, and celebrities whose normative behavior endear them to their fans.
Perhaps society is just as subtly as sociopathic as it is empathetic, narcissistic, for it encourages us to be normal in our lives, which might be described as one big snafu where the situation is normal but all fouled up.
On a positive note, 95 percent of people are not sociopaths. Most of them do not drink and few of them turn to drugs. Society is not inherently sociopathic. Rather, it might be that the empathetic and the narcissists in all of us realize how to be successful without harming other people.
YMMV
Originally posted on Oct 13, 2014 at 5:55 PM
American Psychopath: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_%28film%29
Halloween: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_(2007_film)
Before I move onto the body of the rant itself, my exposure to alcohol and drugs needs to be shared because I truly care for the social drinker.
During my life, I have mostly been a light drinker thanks to intolerance of alcohol due to my Asian physiology when one or two drinks often made me drunk. As well, I practiced safe drinking because I was never exposed to peer pressure over social drinking.
Apart from the rare forays into drinking until my early 30s, my drinking days only occurred around social events. 2007 was a great challenge because of reconnecting with a friend I had met 10 years earlier who is a moderate drinker.
Today, I don't drink alcohol and am totally dry since June 2014 mainly because I believe in sobriety and have continued prayer and meditation to distract me from seeking comfort in the bottle.
Because I had a brief history of binge drinking and other risky behavior until I stopped drinking in 2009, I retain the privilege of experience to be the party pooper in regards to drinking. However, the following rant is because I am stone cold sober.
Addictive behaviors occur long before children are introduced to alcohol and drugs around middle school (grades 5-7). Peer pressure only causes addictions when children want to fit in and socialize.
So I am glad that I chose to not drink until well into my 30s. YMMV.
Tolerance to alcohol occurs when a person who drinks needs more alcohol during regular drinking hours in addition to the copious amounts of drink at home. However, the myth that drinking is fun is encouraged by the fact that you only live once, an attitude that will be addressed later on in this rant.
According to the anti-drinking propaganda, it is said that risky drinking threatens people who once lived productive lives.
In aother myth, public health (doctors, nurses, hospitals) is anti-drinking. Actually public health recommends 1-2 drinks a day as being safer than drinking up to 14 drinks or more over a 60-hour period on the weekend, depending on whether everyone is in party mood, due to a public holiday or other event.
Perhaps it is more fun and entertaining to drink 1-2 drinks with each meal from breakfast, lunch and dinner, as long as the intended purpose is social drinking, be it at home or every day. For the purpose of social drinking is to be of good cheer, apparently.
As has been stated before, preloading behavior occurs when prices are high and laws are strict.
According to health officials, alcohol preloading is harmful, only if the drinker drinks more alcohol later on in the evening. Thus, the risk of excessive drinking is higher than not preloading. The resulting higher consumption levels increase risk for injuries and possibly death.
Strict alcohol laws increase the chance of preloading. Additionally, licensed establishments have a high risk of liability serving already inebriated patrons.
Thus, lowering alcohol prices tends to lower risk of preloading.
Therefore, liquor laws need to be moderated. Liquor prices need to be low enough to encourage less preloading but not so low as to encourage binge drinking. Additionally, both binge drinking and preloading need to be addressed through the use of propaganda advertisements.
It is less risky and cheaper to drink 1-2 drinks at bars, pubs and restaurants with affordable prices every day of the week than to preload on the weekend and risk higher levels of consumption.
From the viewpoint of the consumer, public education from middle school to college level should still discourage preloading and risk factors that may be encouraged by the "you only live once" myth (YOLO).
You do live once, but it is a factor that is disproved by preloading due to strict liquor laws and high alcohol prices.
Contrary to the myth that preloading is safe, more people risk dying from alcohol-related injuries including poisoning, fights at establishments and car accidents.
From the viewpoint of sobriety, preloading might indicate future risk for alcoholism when drinking also occurs during the rest of the week. However, I believe social drinkers are potential alcoholics when inebriated if they are led to the belief that drinking is so fun that every day must be a party in order for them to feel in control. After that suspension of disbelief, they may turn every evening into a party and the line blurs between social drinking and alcoholism.
However, the alcoholic will deny he is an alcoholic because of two pernicious attitudes about drinking: "everyone is doing it" and YOLO. However, a minority of people drink that much or more, while the majority of people may be their concered friends and family who are saddened by the fact that drink became more important than them.
I know of people who met in bars, had a few drinks, and flew in for a Vegas wedding, including Britney Spears who had hooked up with a high school friend, partied, got married and subsequently got the marriage annulled. Fortunately her Vegas wedding was not a career-breaker.
Despite all the late night talk show hosts joking about Spears at that time, the risk of ruined ratings reduced their call for less drinking. That's because the entertainment industry needs the extra revenue from alcohol sales and often considers safe drinking behavior to be an economic threat to their industry.
Yet safe drinking behavior is actually no threat to their industry because more social drinkers can spend each day drinking up to 6 drinks a day with meals per person and not lose sleep over preloading and binge drinking on weekends.
Also the purpose of buying liquor - preferably beer - at night is not to drink it all away before morning but to have enough alcohol to stay within the 6 drinks a day limit. Public drinking education should consist of math quizzes to meet that limit and stay within it, in order to maintain a healthy social drinking climate.
Indeed, the sly promotion of "drinking is fun" by a bar or club is done to obtain high drink sales to derive enough alcoholic revenue to offset the hourly minimum wage. Beer bongs, drinking shooters off hot models, and associated antics are actually done to encourage social drinking at levels which not too many social drinkers can sustain. Nor does ladies' night with half price on shooters promote safe drinking.
All this does is lead to a 1-5 percent of a party of revelers to encounter blackouts and all the mayhem that happens during blackouts, especially the ones that last a month, a year, or maybe even a decade or two.
Right now, I have to discuss sociopaths who drink, because they are the people who have lied to themselves so much that drinking is fun. One successful sociopath too many has said, "I like to have vodka in my cereal every morning." They thus center their lives around being the pernicious party animal.
Although the public health officials have labeled them "problem drinkers," their problem is the ability to believe the lies that they tell other people about their drinking. Since their world revolves around drinking and socializing, they are able to socially engineer a way to stay drunk throughout their lives and often turn binge drinking and preloading into performance art.
Along the way, alcoholic sociopaths give a bad rap to successful sociopaths like celebrities, business people and even Randolph Hearst, a publisher who made his money from alcohol advertisers before Prohibition but also made money by being a moral compass when Mae West came to New York City. Yet Mae West helped Hollywood make money by challenging the moral taboos about being a sexy and successful sociopath for the entertainment industry.
A marvelous Hollywood celebrity who was quite successful during her career is Tallulah Bankhead, who not only drank her way around Hollywood but also snorted her way around the secret party scenes, too. Being a relatively successful sociopath, she also slept her way from casting couch to the beds of other celebrities, men and women alike. Once she had to get a hysterectomy after a bad case of gonorrhea, and said in passing to the hospital surgeon "If you think this is going to stop my behavior, think again."
Thus, society must be ever vigilant about sociopaths who shall be detected during their first forays into social drinking before their white lies lead to the bigger whoppers they tell themselves once they totally buy into the YOLO attitude and make it their motto for life. For alcohol and sociopaths are a dangerous mix that may lead to risk of violence to themselves and their loved ones.
Anyway, I am all done with ranting and would like to thank Hollywood for popularizing social drinking (Jackass), cocaine (Traffik), risky behavior (American Pie), decadent hedonism (those crazy movies from the 30s involving dancing the shimmie while dressed in sheer fabric), and a sociopathy that fails so horribly that sexual psychopathy becomes confused with benign sociopathic behavior by the sociopath's victims (American Psychopath).
If it wasn't for Hollywood, then we wouldn't have all the failed sociopaths who crossed the line into their five minutes of fame. If it wasn't for the brilliance of American mainstream media to enshrine individualism as freedom from neo-conservative sheep mentality, then there wouldn't be the Craigslist killer meme.
In conclusion, I would like to insert a sober moment here to end this rant by stating that the sociopath is not a broken individual as a child. Rather, she is not a victim of child abuse, neglect or anything that horrible.
Rather, a sociopath learns early that society is based on white lies which help us to sleep at nights. When a child is fibbing, it is child abuse to force them to stop lying when few parents can stomach telling their children the truth too early but sometimes failing to figure out the truth about their society.
For a sociopath learns early in childhood that toeing the line comes with benefits and risks, including telling a white lie to ensure family harmony. What a brilliant career in big business awaits them, if only parents were taught from middle school about ethic and morals in a manner than benefits every child.
Indeed, when drinking becomes a sociopathy in middle school, parents should admit to the double standard and determine if they are narcissists, empaths or sociopaths instead of lying about these descriptions for what passes as normal human behavior.
Even so, "normal" is the biggest white lie to promote social harmony while leading to the stigma of the mentally ill without just cause. As is "denial" a white lie when declaring that a psychopath is sane.
Personality disorders are not a sign of insanity unless a person described as sociopathic are mistreated by former friends who can only see through the lies of the sociopath but have little insight into the white lies that lead to real whoppers like "the mentally ill are not really normal people".
Truth be told: Hollywood manufactured the propaganda that psychopaths are horrible people but the reboot of Halloween turn the story of a failed sociopath Michael Myers, who was neglected as a child but was molded by unprofessional therapy by Doctor Samuel Loomis and the incompetence of the State into a serial killer, the criminal psychopath.
However, American Psychopath is not an honest portrayal of sexual psychopathy because it leaves out the antihero's childhood. On the other hand the rebooted Halloween movies is only a portrayal of two kinds of sociopaths, the failed sociopath known as the criminal psychopath and serial killer Michael Myers and the successful sociopath, Dr Samuel Loomis.
Hollywood tells us white lies about sociopaths like Myers while showing Doctor Loomis as a successful sociopath. It also only documents the sexual psychopathy of the antihero in American Psychopath in adulthood, but offers no insight on the fact that he is a failed sociopath whose social drinking helped him to fit into urban society.
Those people who fail as sociopaths sometimes develop a psychopathy if they maladapt to the stress that society places on them. Otherwise, they would be make fine successful sociopaths such as many CEOs, world leaders, and celebrities whose normative behavior endear them to their fans.
Perhaps society is just as subtly as sociopathic as it is empathetic, narcissistic, for it encourages us to be normal in our lives, which might be described as one big snafu where the situation is normal but all fouled up.
On a positive note, 95 percent of people are not sociopaths. Most of them do not drink and few of them turn to drugs. Society is not inherently sociopathic. Rather, it might be that the empathetic and the narcissists in all of us realize how to be successful without harming other people.
YMMV
Originally posted on Oct 13, 2014 at 5:55 PM
American Psychopath: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_%28film%29
Halloween: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_(2007_film)
20141026
New Age Guru Helping the People of the Ghettos and Inner City: a Meditation on Addiction, Meditation and Otaku (satire)
"That's the goal now," he says, "to spread into the ghettos and inner cities."
Deepak Chopra has ventured to Harlem, N.Y., and Reno, Nev., talking to blacks, Latinos and Asians about people being rivers of energy. He tells them their mind is wired into every cell of their body, that nasal breathing techniques can effect brain activity, that ayurvedic herbs can pack as much punch as any drug.
How does Chopra think it's going so far? What do city folk make of his New Age wisdom?
"They say, 'Deep stuff!'"
This is the challenge for rehabilitation centres for addictions: to convince drug addicts and especially alcoholics that the inner energy of meditation is a high higher than any known drug that they got their hands on.
Yet addicts are well known for their ability to detect BS if and only if they have been totally honest with themselves that their addictions are not due to "bad parenting", but their rebellion against the basic social rules that govern our very lives.
While they may do so because of the unwillingness to live by the rules society imposes on us all, addicts pay a price for their so-called freedom, a freedom that is an illusion behind which a licentious lifestyle crumbles into the abyss of darkness that so many addicts face due to abuse of their freedom to choose.
However, meditation will work for anyone who meditates due to their willingness to cut through their own BS, of which the main one concerns their so-called ability to detect BS in people wiser than they are.
In short, they have to also cut through the white lies that society imposes on us all to create working communities, and accept that they are completely different in their use from lies, both blatant and subtle, that actually destroy communities.
For example, if a friend I just met asked me what I did on last Friday, then if I wanted to remain discreet, I could merely say "I went on an errand", and changing the topic, rather than being candid about paying my bills since my Fridays are my paydays.
In contrast, I am usually candid with my roommates and my best friend because they are in my inner circle of friends, and not someone I met off the street.
Although I admitted to how I spend my Fridays in the course of my argument, I will not reveal details because they are personal facts that are private and are known only to me, my employer, my bank and the government through their tax department.
Regarding bills I pay, I will only be candid about debt collectors due to the fact that they consistently tell white lies in order to obtain a lot of money right now (preferably over $100 a month but far less than what I owe Fido and Rogers Mobility) in a short period of time (usually within 48 hours but that could be negotiated).
I am mentioning this because of my addiction to technology - and it is evidenced by the late hour spent writing this article.
By being this candid, I hope to share the word that meditation works. If I didn't put positive effort into meditating on my debt, then I would still be in denial and the debt would not get paid.
Therefore, in my mind, I am a recovering addict with an addiction that no one else takes seriously except myself.
I think in Japan, they call people like that "otaku", though in the West, otaku are great for information content but lousy on emotional affect.
However, there is some overlap between addiction and the collections of knowledge and experience of otaku, even though otaku are likely to chew me out for "labeling" their intense love for technology or even works of art as "addiction."
Overall though, we otaku could be so gung-ho about anime and manga, why not meditation too? For the most gentle of meditation is combined in many therapeutic settings, and is borrowed from Asian sources more so than Western sources.
Though I will say that even me blogging online is therapy. It is also a form of vipassana meditation when I focus on cutting through the initial negativity toward the positive outcome.
If anything that I have written confuses you, then you are not ready to truly free yourself of your addiction and become a true otaku who is essentially free of whatever he obsesses over.
How dos you tell when that happens? When you can go to a convention, a group therapy session, or even a family reunion to help friends and family get to know you well, that is a start.
Another sign that you are otaku is that you vacillate in your writing between first-person (I and me among similar pronouns), second-person (you and the names of people), and third-person (they, them, and often one or it).
Returning to the quote from an anti-cult website, I can certainly support the use of meditation techniques. However, that quote is not a product endorsement of Chopra since it has been taken out of context for me to promote meditation on my terms, which I am free to do.
I am merely selling the idea that otaku are harmless when they become more socialized with fellow otaku. As well, any obsession that leads to social isolation on the long run really is worth the effort of abstaining.
As for addiction, that is only when your lifestyle is negative affected by your obsessions e.g. you spend more time watching anime than socializing with friends, using excuses to avoid brushing up on your social skills.
Anyway, I am not proud to be otaku, nor am I ashamed to be otaku. Otaku is a neutral word in the West, yet is misused by lazy Japanese journalists who turned it into a badge of shame.
Yet even journalists are closet otakus as pararazzi when they obsess about celebrities such as Morning Musume and stalk them.
Finally, the ultimate freedom is to use less technology in the public sphere, and to occasionally use technology. First, one day dedicated to using your smartphones less and your senses more, including using the mind to ask questions about matters other than technology.
Originally written on May 10, 2005 at 2310H PDT
Reference:
http://www.rickross.com/reference/deepakchopra/deepakchopra20.html
Deepak Chopra has ventured to Harlem, N.Y., and Reno, Nev., talking to blacks, Latinos and Asians about people being rivers of energy. He tells them their mind is wired into every cell of their body, that nasal breathing techniques can effect brain activity, that ayurvedic herbs can pack as much punch as any drug.
How does Chopra think it's going so far? What do city folk make of his New Age wisdom?
"They say, 'Deep stuff!'"
This is the challenge for rehabilitation centres for addictions: to convince drug addicts and especially alcoholics that the inner energy of meditation is a high higher than any known drug that they got their hands on.
Yet addicts are well known for their ability to detect BS if and only if they have been totally honest with themselves that their addictions are not due to "bad parenting", but their rebellion against the basic social rules that govern our very lives.
While they may do so because of the unwillingness to live by the rules society imposes on us all, addicts pay a price for their so-called freedom, a freedom that is an illusion behind which a licentious lifestyle crumbles into the abyss of darkness that so many addicts face due to abuse of their freedom to choose.
However, meditation will work for anyone who meditates due to their willingness to cut through their own BS, of which the main one concerns their so-called ability to detect BS in people wiser than they are.
In short, they have to also cut through the white lies that society imposes on us all to create working communities, and accept that they are completely different in their use from lies, both blatant and subtle, that actually destroy communities.
For example, if a friend I just met asked me what I did on last Friday, then if I wanted to remain discreet, I could merely say "I went on an errand", and changing the topic, rather than being candid about paying my bills since my Fridays are my paydays.
In contrast, I am usually candid with my roommates and my best friend because they are in my inner circle of friends, and not someone I met off the street.
Although I admitted to how I spend my Fridays in the course of my argument, I will not reveal details because they are personal facts that are private and are known only to me, my employer, my bank and the government through their tax department.
Regarding bills I pay, I will only be candid about debt collectors due to the fact that they consistently tell white lies in order to obtain a lot of money right now (preferably over $100 a month but far less than what I owe Fido and Rogers Mobility) in a short period of time (usually within 48 hours but that could be negotiated).
I am mentioning this because of my addiction to technology - and it is evidenced by the late hour spent writing this article.
By being this candid, I hope to share the word that meditation works. If I didn't put positive effort into meditating on my debt, then I would still be in denial and the debt would not get paid.
Therefore, in my mind, I am a recovering addict with an addiction that no one else takes seriously except myself.
I think in Japan, they call people like that "otaku", though in the West, otaku are great for information content but lousy on emotional affect.
However, there is some overlap between addiction and the collections of knowledge and experience of otaku, even though otaku are likely to chew me out for "labeling" their intense love for technology or even works of art as "addiction."
Overall though, we otaku could be so gung-ho about anime and manga, why not meditation too? For the most gentle of meditation is combined in many therapeutic settings, and is borrowed from Asian sources more so than Western sources.
Though I will say that even me blogging online is therapy. It is also a form of vipassana meditation when I focus on cutting through the initial negativity toward the positive outcome.
If anything that I have written confuses you, then you are not ready to truly free yourself of your addiction and become a true otaku who is essentially free of whatever he obsesses over.
How dos you tell when that happens? When you can go to a convention, a group therapy session, or even a family reunion to help friends and family get to know you well, that is a start.
Another sign that you are otaku is that you vacillate in your writing between first-person (I and me among similar pronouns), second-person (you and the names of people), and third-person (they, them, and often one or it).
Returning to the quote from an anti-cult website, I can certainly support the use of meditation techniques. However, that quote is not a product endorsement of Chopra since it has been taken out of context for me to promote meditation on my terms, which I am free to do.
I am merely selling the idea that otaku are harmless when they become more socialized with fellow otaku. As well, any obsession that leads to social isolation on the long run really is worth the effort of abstaining.
As for addiction, that is only when your lifestyle is negative affected by your obsessions e.g. you spend more time watching anime than socializing with friends, using excuses to avoid brushing up on your social skills.
Anyway, I am not proud to be otaku, nor am I ashamed to be otaku. Otaku is a neutral word in the West, yet is misused by lazy Japanese journalists who turned it into a badge of shame.
Yet even journalists are closet otakus as pararazzi when they obsess about celebrities such as Morning Musume and stalk them.
Finally, the ultimate freedom is to use less technology in the public sphere, and to occasionally use technology. First, one day dedicated to using your smartphones less and your senses more, including using the mind to ask questions about matters other than technology.
Originally written on May 10, 2005 at 2310H PDT
Reference:
http://www.rickross.com/reference/deepakchopra/deepakchopra20.html
20141002
Stress Relief Without Medication (satire)
Within the past week, I had this dream when it became clear to me that refined sugar is the probable cause of my nicotine addiction. As a result of that dream, I decided to research lysine and arginine over the past two days.
Here is what I have learned:
Both amino acids help reduce inflammation, improves the immune system, promotes healing of wounds, and treats anxiety without the side effects of medications that treat those four conditions.
Indeed, the stress relief found by daily supplementation of both arginine and lysine is noted in the trial involving 108 Japanese test subjects. This trial validates the fourth condition listed (relief of anxiety).
Lysine also is important to bone health and calcium metabolism, working synergistically with Vitamins D and K, calcium, magnesium and boron. In contrast, arginine is also helpful in maintenance of cardiovascular health through its effect on nitrogen oxide.
Consequently, both amino acids should help reduce the subjective impression of stress in a person's life without resorting to more powerful neuropsychiatric medications such as tranquilizers (benzodiazepines), SSRIs (antidepressants) and related medications.
In another medical trial, 29 subjects were dosed with 3 grams each of arginine and lysine for ten days. Then they were exposed to stress similar to that experienced in public speaking.
The trial results support the notion that the daily use of L-lysine combined with L-arginine may relieve anxiety and modify hormonal responses during psychosocial stress in people.
This is why I am confident that daily use of both arginine and lysine supplements will help reduce anxiety from stress. In doing so, my cold turkey remedy for nicotine addiction would benefit from the addition of both amino acids to my daily supplement regimen.
In due time, my adaptability to stress will increase and all anxiety will be too brief to be noticeable. Already am I feeling the change due to moderation of anxiety caused by taking arginine and lysine.
One side effect that I have noticed after having consumed 2 grams of both amino acids is relaxation to the point of sleepiness. This is supposed to be due to lysine acting on serotonin (5HTP4) receptors. Though I cannot discount normal fatigue, it has only been 10 hours since I rose from sleep.
Even after 4 hours sitting in front of the computer does not stress me out. So it is definitely worth the money spent on arginine and lysine supplementation.
As well, lysine can reverse the progression of autoimmune disease while arginine can actually improve a heart attack survivor's chance of recovery. Autoimmune disease may be due to herpes virus.
Additionally, a 5+ grams of lysine can help get over the "24-hour influenza" caused by overwork and stress-induced consumption of tobacco.
Disclaimer: this is not a product endorsement of arginine and lysine supplementation since the regular consumption of chicken and fish along with nuts (almonds, cashews, and other nuts) will supplement your daily needs of both amino acids. Note: you will have to eat a lot more nuts and soya protein to maintain high levels of both lysine and arginine on a vegan diet. This means that you must exercise vigorously at least three times a week for at least two hours, enough to break a healthy sweat. Otherwise, the nitrogen load of that much protein will harm your kidneys and liver.
YMMV
Originally written on Jan 28, 2014 at 4:53 AM
References:
Oral treatment with L-lysine and L-arginine reduces anxiety and basal cortisol levels in healthy humans. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17510493
Subchronic treatment with amino acid mixture of L-lysine and L-arginine modifies neuroendocrine activation during psychosocial stress in subjects with high trait anxiety.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16117182
Arginine: http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsad/a/Arginine.htm
Lysine: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/lysine
How to Get a Lysine-Rich Diet: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/lysinerich-diet-5532.html#page1
Foods containing lysine and arginine: http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_amino_acid.html
Videos about arginine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPd2NB9mjaM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKWlKWge59Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Video about lysine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1RSQAeMr2o&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Autoimmunity's proposed cause: http://krysalishealthnotes.blogspot.ca/2009/04/autoimmunity-proposed-common-cause-and.html
Here is what I have learned:
Both amino acids help reduce inflammation, improves the immune system, promotes healing of wounds, and treats anxiety without the side effects of medications that treat those four conditions.
Indeed, the stress relief found by daily supplementation of both arginine and lysine is noted in the trial involving 108 Japanese test subjects. This trial validates the fourth condition listed (relief of anxiety).
Lysine also is important to bone health and calcium metabolism, working synergistically with Vitamins D and K, calcium, magnesium and boron. In contrast, arginine is also helpful in maintenance of cardiovascular health through its effect on nitrogen oxide.
Consequently, both amino acids should help reduce the subjective impression of stress in a person's life without resorting to more powerful neuropsychiatric medications such as tranquilizers (benzodiazepines), SSRIs (antidepressants) and related medications.
In another medical trial, 29 subjects were dosed with 3 grams each of arginine and lysine for ten days. Then they were exposed to stress similar to that experienced in public speaking.
The trial results support the notion that the daily use of L-lysine combined with L-arginine may relieve anxiety and modify hormonal responses during psychosocial stress in people.
This is why I am confident that daily use of both arginine and lysine supplements will help reduce anxiety from stress. In doing so, my cold turkey remedy for nicotine addiction would benefit from the addition of both amino acids to my daily supplement regimen.
In due time, my adaptability to stress will increase and all anxiety will be too brief to be noticeable. Already am I feeling the change due to moderation of anxiety caused by taking arginine and lysine.
One side effect that I have noticed after having consumed 2 grams of both amino acids is relaxation to the point of sleepiness. This is supposed to be due to lysine acting on serotonin (5HTP4) receptors. Though I cannot discount normal fatigue, it has only been 10 hours since I rose from sleep.
Even after 4 hours sitting in front of the computer does not stress me out. So it is definitely worth the money spent on arginine and lysine supplementation.
As well, lysine can reverse the progression of autoimmune disease while arginine can actually improve a heart attack survivor's chance of recovery. Autoimmune disease may be due to herpes virus.
Additionally, a 5+ grams of lysine can help get over the "24-hour influenza" caused by overwork and stress-induced consumption of tobacco.
Disclaimer: this is not a product endorsement of arginine and lysine supplementation since the regular consumption of chicken and fish along with nuts (almonds, cashews, and other nuts) will supplement your daily needs of both amino acids. Note: you will have to eat a lot more nuts and soya protein to maintain high levels of both lysine and arginine on a vegan diet. This means that you must exercise vigorously at least three times a week for at least two hours, enough to break a healthy sweat. Otherwise, the nitrogen load of that much protein will harm your kidneys and liver.
YMMV
Originally written on Jan 28, 2014 at 4:53 AM
References:
Oral treatment with L-lysine and L-arginine reduces anxiety and basal cortisol levels in healthy humans. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17510493
Subchronic treatment with amino acid mixture of L-lysine and L-arginine modifies neuroendocrine activation during psychosocial stress in subjects with high trait anxiety.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16117182
Arginine: http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/herbsvitaminsad/a/Arginine.htm
Lysine: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/lysine
How to Get a Lysine-Rich Diet: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/lysinerich-diet-5532.html#page1
Foods containing lysine and arginine: http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_amino_acid.html
Videos about arginine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPd2NB9mjaM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKWlKWge59Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Video about lysine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1RSQAeMr2o&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Autoimmunity's proposed cause: http://krysalishealthnotes.blogspot.ca/2009/04/autoimmunity-proposed-common-cause-and.html
20140816
Curing Lust (satire)
Imagine the flesh of someone you lust rotting away, turning into a rotting corpse, and decaying until all that's left is a skeleton of a human being.
Bring this to mind every time you lust for that person until you do not even think of the object of your desire, lest you conjure of that horrible vision of a person dying and rotting, and becoming bone.
I'm pretty sure that such an extreme meditation practice would ruin your libido for good. Indeed, it is a meditation practice for Buddhist monks and nuns. They who faithfully practice this meditation never experience sexual misconduct within a Buddhist monastery.
In a worst case scenario, this practice might be the Buddhist cure for sex addiction, except Westerners mistake meditation practice for religion & mdash; as opposed to Christianity, where a sinner may be shamed and made to feel guilty for natural sexual behavior, which purportedly causes psychological hang-ups and manufactures from one of out of every twenty-five church members a sociopath who might work his way up in the religious hierarchy.
A priest becomes a sociopath when he breaks his celibacy vows, and lies to his bishop. A bishop becomes a sociopath when he turns church bingo into a multimillion-dollar business. A Pope becomes a sociopath when he hides being a soldier in a war in his youth.
However, being gay does not stop a man from becoming a priest. It might cause him to fight for the rights of all living beings on this earth. It all depends on the man.
Perhaps this meditation could be modified for drug addiction: just imagine the worst-case scenario where you take your drugs in a homeless shelter and are prey to black boys speaking Haitian Creole.
Sure, like that's going to work.
If you believe in the fallacy that "all sociopaths are evil" when the truth is, only unsuccessful sociopaths are deemed evil by Western society when they get caught. Once caught, these people might be thrown under the bus by a few mainstream media journalists who promote a moral panic about sociopaths under the guise of responsible journalism.
Sometimes, karma is a bitch when you let lust control your life, be it for sex, drugs, and even money. Most of the time, we think the libido is normal and natural, and that repressive means of controlling it is tantamount to the abuse of a person's individual human rights.
It is not psychological abuse for Buddhist monks and nuns to practice this kind of meditation, because they do so willingly. Yet it would be abuse if such meditation practices were mandatory for unprepared people, even in a clinical setting.
This is why no Buddhist organization endorses such a practice, and rely only on the Five Precepts of the Buddhist code of ethics (abstain from killing, abstain from theft, avoid sexual misconduct, abstain from false speech, and abstain from consuming alcohol and drugs).
For this meditation practice is not for laypeople, and could potentially harm any Buddhist who practices it outside of a monastery. I do not endorse its practice, but mentioned it here to show how preposterous it would be to serve as the cure for lust.
It is safer for the Buddhist practitioner to practice the Five Precepts than to become a monk or nun in a Buddhist monastery. Indeed, it is harmless, provided the practitioner keep all the precepts and practice them diligently while repenting from minor infractions (lying, gossipping, and consuming alcohol and drugs).
Perhaps this explains the practice of Pure Land Buddhist practitioners who chant the Buddha's name (Nianfo or Nembutsu) to burn off the evil karma of past wrongful actions. In this way do they purify their mind. For this is a path of easy practice that helps them achieve peace of mind.
In my opinion, these diverse Buddhist practices of chanting and meditation are examples of sexual sublimation, and positive expressions of libido.
YMMV
References:
Five Precepts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Precepts
Bring this to mind every time you lust for that person until you do not even think of the object of your desire, lest you conjure of that horrible vision of a person dying and rotting, and becoming bone.
I'm pretty sure that such an extreme meditation practice would ruin your libido for good. Indeed, it is a meditation practice for Buddhist monks and nuns. They who faithfully practice this meditation never experience sexual misconduct within a Buddhist monastery.
In a worst case scenario, this practice might be the Buddhist cure for sex addiction, except Westerners mistake meditation practice for religion & mdash; as opposed to Christianity, where a sinner may be shamed and made to feel guilty for natural sexual behavior, which purportedly causes psychological hang-ups and manufactures from one of out of every twenty-five church members a sociopath who might work his way up in the religious hierarchy.
A priest becomes a sociopath when he breaks his celibacy vows, and lies to his bishop. A bishop becomes a sociopath when he turns church bingo into a multimillion-dollar business. A Pope becomes a sociopath when he hides being a soldier in a war in his youth.
However, being gay does not stop a man from becoming a priest. It might cause him to fight for the rights of all living beings on this earth. It all depends on the man.
Perhaps this meditation could be modified for drug addiction: just imagine the worst-case scenario where you take your drugs in a homeless shelter and are prey to black boys speaking Haitian Creole.
Sure, like that's going to work.
If you believe in the fallacy that "all sociopaths are evil" when the truth is, only unsuccessful sociopaths are deemed evil by Western society when they get caught. Once caught, these people might be thrown under the bus by a few mainstream media journalists who promote a moral panic about sociopaths under the guise of responsible journalism.
Sometimes, karma is a bitch when you let lust control your life, be it for sex, drugs, and even money. Most of the time, we think the libido is normal and natural, and that repressive means of controlling it is tantamount to the abuse of a person's individual human rights.
It is not psychological abuse for Buddhist monks and nuns to practice this kind of meditation, because they do so willingly. Yet it would be abuse if such meditation practices were mandatory for unprepared people, even in a clinical setting.
This is why no Buddhist organization endorses such a practice, and rely only on the Five Precepts of the Buddhist code of ethics (abstain from killing, abstain from theft, avoid sexual misconduct, abstain from false speech, and abstain from consuming alcohol and drugs).
For this meditation practice is not for laypeople, and could potentially harm any Buddhist who practices it outside of a monastery. I do not endorse its practice, but mentioned it here to show how preposterous it would be to serve as the cure for lust.
It is safer for the Buddhist practitioner to practice the Five Precepts than to become a monk or nun in a Buddhist monastery. Indeed, it is harmless, provided the practitioner keep all the precepts and practice them diligently while repenting from minor infractions (lying, gossipping, and consuming alcohol and drugs).
Perhaps this explains the practice of Pure Land Buddhist practitioners who chant the Buddha's name (Nianfo or Nembutsu) to burn off the evil karma of past wrongful actions. In this way do they purify their mind. For this is a path of easy practice that helps them achieve peace of mind.
In my opinion, these diverse Buddhist practices of chanting and meditation are examples of sexual sublimation, and positive expressions of libido.
YMMV
References:
Five Precepts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Precepts
20140111
How to Cut Consumerism (satire)
People are so caught up in buying stuff they don't really need, that "spendaholic" is not a stupid joke but becoming more real.
A good example of this is the typical nerd who is a yuppie with a craving for technology, be it an $600 iPhone5S, an $1800 quadcore laptop with a 16" screen, or a phablet ranging from $300 to $500.
Imagine that that every device is crystal meth or ice or coke or pot.
Then that $600 iPhone5S is poke.
The quadcore laptop is $1800 of coke.
Even the phablet is a lot of crystal meth at $300 and enough coke to kill you at $500.
I am pretty sure $2800 of a mix of ice, coke and pot will keep you up for days into you enter your little psychotic episode brought to by amphetamine and its methylated child meth, cocaine and various THC derivatives.
In short, a technophile is addicted to technology. If he isn't making money using it, then it's just another addiction waiting for the next crisis to comfort him.
If you are a sex addict and can afford the shipping charges, then there's a sex doll for you for $3000 (vibrator optional)!
Fucking nerds, you're all addicts!
20131228
It's Not About the Drugs (satire)
Drug abuse is a health issue, not a legal one. It was only turned into a legal issue by the elites who blamed drug use after the 1960s on corrupting moral values, ignoring their role in creating the situation that led to increased drug use through the media.
The elites also blamed marijuana on Mexican immigrants and opium use on Chinese immigrants, so there is a racist element in the elites' demonization of drugs. Today, drug abuse has been associated with its side effect, homelessness, and thus has been the cause of poverty.
However, it is this dog-eat-dog world of competitiveness that is one causal factor in drug addiction. Additionally, drug abuse is a risk of which one of the causes is the increasing narcissism in society.
Just as there are fans of celebrities, there are fans of alcohol, caffeine, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, except that celebrity fandom only affects the pocketbook, whereas drug addiction is harmful not only in terms of money, but also to life and limb.
This is why you never ever see a poor person at a rock concert, because the money spent on a ticket could feed the poor for up to a week. As well, the average poor person is unlikely to become a drug addict. In fact, drug addiction is what puts the middle class into poverty.
If a poor person had a choice between drugs and a place to live, he'd choose a place to live. The myths about drug addiction are part of the overall plan of the elites to perpetuate class warfare between members of the middle class in a perverted form of social Darwinism that determines anyone who is rich is worthy of respect, despite the fact that most rich elites who profit immensely from the suffering of others are only de facto elites. For the only people who respect them are not their peers but a criminal lower in the social hierarchy. Overall, a poor person only fears drugs, because they prevent him from keeping that place to live.
It makes more sense if a working class person has a few beers and perhaps smokes occasionally. Both alcohol and cigarettes are legal drugs. However, the extremes of drug abuse dictate that loss of inhibition caused by alcohol might lead to soft drug use but common sense dictates that hard drug use is the result of risky behavior that places the future drug addict on a path of no return.
Yet drug addiction is not a path but a side effect of a person's spiral into poverty, be it economic if his addiction prevents him from working or merely spiritual if he maintains an income stream to support his addiction.
In most cases of addiction, environment is a strong causal factor. As a fan, everything is focused on the celebrity including becoming a fan along with all that celebrity's adoring fans. Likewise, drug addicts seek out their fellow drug addicts. For we are social animals, and the risks of being a harm to self and others is worsened by the use of drugs alone.
If you chose a celebrity over your drug of choice, that would be safer but I would question the safety of a fan who chooses her celebrity of choice over also having a life outside her bedroom.
Likewise, the drug addict who hides out in her bedroom will soon be removing the smoke alarm to stop going off due to pot smoke. Ultimately the chronic will end up behaving strangely like a certain celebrity who I won't mention since her chronic phase was a distortion of her life before pot. Additionally, most of it was exaggerated by celebrity gossip columns and the paparazzi stalkers who are sometimes failures at being petty criminals. It would not even surprise me that there are bottom feeders in the world of celebrities who plan to profit from being insiders of celebrities, provided they know the vices of their intended "victim".
For a drug addiction is also a side effect of being a narcissist, who makes a drug of his choice a part of his lifestyle, a dangerous accessory of a lifestyle where everyone and almost everything else is but an accessory and basically a means to the end, a reflection of his life.
Once rehabilitated, the former drug addict still face his character disturbance known as narcissism. It will mean giving up former friends of that lifestyle in some cases, and in other cases, changing the dynamics of other friends.
Yet there is no known cure for drug addiction. Instead, the former addict comes to realize life is simpler and less chaotic sober, and many times more valuable than intoxication. Indeed, the hang-ups of sobriety keep us all safe and secure.
For addiction and abuse is not about the drugs at all. Rather it is about the person behind the cravings, a person who only sees the world filled with the accessories which make her feel safe and secure. It is a pity that in the midst of abuse, we forget how precious our inhibitions truly are.
The elites also blamed marijuana on Mexican immigrants and opium use on Chinese immigrants, so there is a racist element in the elites' demonization of drugs. Today, drug abuse has been associated with its side effect, homelessness, and thus has been the cause of poverty.
However, it is this dog-eat-dog world of competitiveness that is one causal factor in drug addiction. Additionally, drug abuse is a risk of which one of the causes is the increasing narcissism in society.
Just as there are fans of celebrities, there are fans of alcohol, caffeine, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, except that celebrity fandom only affects the pocketbook, whereas drug addiction is harmful not only in terms of money, but also to life and limb.
This is why you never ever see a poor person at a rock concert, because the money spent on a ticket could feed the poor for up to a week. As well, the average poor person is unlikely to become a drug addict. In fact, drug addiction is what puts the middle class into poverty.
If a poor person had a choice between drugs and a place to live, he'd choose a place to live. The myths about drug addiction are part of the overall plan of the elites to perpetuate class warfare between members of the middle class in a perverted form of social Darwinism that determines anyone who is rich is worthy of respect, despite the fact that most rich elites who profit immensely from the suffering of others are only de facto elites. For the only people who respect them are not their peers but a criminal lower in the social hierarchy. Overall, a poor person only fears drugs, because they prevent him from keeping that place to live.
It makes more sense if a working class person has a few beers and perhaps smokes occasionally. Both alcohol and cigarettes are legal drugs. However, the extremes of drug abuse dictate that loss of inhibition caused by alcohol might lead to soft drug use but common sense dictates that hard drug use is the result of risky behavior that places the future drug addict on a path of no return.
Yet drug addiction is not a path but a side effect of a person's spiral into poverty, be it economic if his addiction prevents him from working or merely spiritual if he maintains an income stream to support his addiction.
In most cases of addiction, environment is a strong causal factor. As a fan, everything is focused on the celebrity including becoming a fan along with all that celebrity's adoring fans. Likewise, drug addicts seek out their fellow drug addicts. For we are social animals, and the risks of being a harm to self and others is worsened by the use of drugs alone.
If you chose a celebrity over your drug of choice, that would be safer but I would question the safety of a fan who chooses her celebrity of choice over also having a life outside her bedroom.
Likewise, the drug addict who hides out in her bedroom will soon be removing the smoke alarm to stop going off due to pot smoke. Ultimately the chronic will end up behaving strangely like a certain celebrity who I won't mention since her chronic phase was a distortion of her life before pot. Additionally, most of it was exaggerated by celebrity gossip columns and the paparazzi stalkers who are sometimes failures at being petty criminals. It would not even surprise me that there are bottom feeders in the world of celebrities who plan to profit from being insiders of celebrities, provided they know the vices of their intended "victim".
For a drug addiction is also a side effect of being a narcissist, who makes a drug of his choice a part of his lifestyle, a dangerous accessory of a lifestyle where everyone and almost everything else is but an accessory and basically a means to the end, a reflection of his life.
Once rehabilitated, the former drug addict still face his character disturbance known as narcissism. It will mean giving up former friends of that lifestyle in some cases, and in other cases, changing the dynamics of other friends.
Yet there is no known cure for drug addiction. Instead, the former addict comes to realize life is simpler and less chaotic sober, and many times more valuable than intoxication. Indeed, the hang-ups of sobriety keep us all safe and secure.
For addiction and abuse is not about the drugs at all. Rather it is about the person behind the cravings, a person who only sees the world filled with the accessories which make her feel safe and secure. It is a pity that in the midst of abuse, we forget how precious our inhibitions truly are.
20131220
When Pain Killers Don't Cut It
Erowid user confesses to possible addiction to opioids for kidney stone pain. Commentary to follow quote.
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=22485
Commentary: Acute pain caused by kidney stones is never remedied by opioids, except when the user is asleep. Had the Emergency doctor been on the ball, had she co-prescribed hydroxyzine or suggested an OTC antihistamine such as Benedryl (diphenhydramine), Chlor-tripolon (chlorpheniramine) or even cetirizine (which has not sedative properties but being a metabolite of hydroxyzine) does moderate opioid potentition, the user would have experienced pain relief earlier once the sedation of the antihistamine kicked in. This also implies less opioids can be taken to relieve the pain.
As shown in the above case, the person reporting his experience with opioids is under great pain, and under these circumstances, tries to dull the pain. Adding an antihistamine to lessen his dose of opioids would complicate matters i.e. scheduling when to take it and how to tell the difference between an antihistamine and an opioid. So the combination would only be useful in a hospital setting where dose scheduling could be better controlled.
This is why antihistamines, especially first-generation such as Benedryl, Chlor-tripolon and hydroxyzine, are usually not given to people with their pain medication due to the risk of overdose.
This is also why tobacco products are addictive, because of the synergy between the nicotine (an acetylcholine agonist) and harmaline, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and a reversible inhibitor of MAO-A (RIMA), contained in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
A RIMA prevents the breakdown of neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine, adrenalin, dopamine, GABA, noradrenalin, serotonin, and tyrosine.
As a RIMA, harmaline also prevents histamine (a monamine) from breaking down. In high doses, with susceptible people it might cause hallucinations because of this action by preventing the breakdown of endogenous dimethyltryptamine. This is not true in all cases.
Nicotine itself too is a CNS stimulant, though its metabolite cotinine is both an anti-psychotic and nootropic.
Original post: June 10, 2010 at 7:40 PM
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=22485
I came online tonight searching for answers to my questions about the myriad of drugs I am currently taking, and thought my experience so far with these drugs could prove useful to someone in my position in the future. I have had been passing kidney stones for the past week - the most painful experience of my life - and in between my many trips to the ER, I have been given oxycodone, toradol and dilaudid to control the pain.
I am extremely afraid of developing an addiction to these drugs, as I have an 'addictive personality' and have had drug habit problems in the past. It's been a difficult situation because the onset of kidney pain sends me into such a fright that I pop the maximum amount of pills that I am supposed to take at once. I am afraid that slight pain I begin to feel will worsen until I am in the state I was in the first day I had the stones - a pain that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. The pain had me reduced to a blabbering, crying mess. When I got to the ER that day I had no control over my words and actions, and I was screaming and moaning for painkillers. When I finally got my shot of toradol and dilaudid I was in heaven...and I tried so hard to convince myself it was just from the pain relief, not from the drugs themselves.
I finally left the hospital that day and continued to have bouts of pain that would sometimes be relieved by the prescriptions, and sometimes not. By the fourth day, I noticed the meds were having no effect whatsoever. It scared me that I already was having such a tolerance to the meds, especially because of how strong I was told dilaudid was. Was it the strength of pain or my tolerance to the meds? I don't really know. I just got home from my third visit to the hospital in the past week, except I had to stay overnight with a morphine drip to control the pain. I was later switched to oral medication - oxycodone - and I was able to handle the pain that way so I got sent home with 30 more pills.
There is no real point to my story except that I question my actions...at the slightest possibility of my beginning to feel twinges of back/abdomen pain associated with kidney stones, I take the oxycodone, toradol, and/or dilaudid. I really don't know if it's more because I am afraid of having pain like I did, or because I am developing an addiction to these pain killers. I must admit that the pain killers make it so much easier to sleep, and as soon as I feel the 'coming down' effects like increased sensitivity (crying at the drop of a hat) and increased annoyedness (especially at loud noise), I feel compelled to take the drugs. At the same time, however, these drugs do not provide all bliss to me either; I experience intense itchiness, mild nausea, and an overwhelming grogginess that brings about a depressed mental state. I personally feel much better having written this, because I think I am being a lot more honest with myself, and have realized that I have caught myself giving in to an addiction...
Commentary: Acute pain caused by kidney stones is never remedied by opioids, except when the user is asleep. Had the Emergency doctor been on the ball, had she co-prescribed hydroxyzine or suggested an OTC antihistamine such as Benedryl (diphenhydramine), Chlor-tripolon (chlorpheniramine) or even cetirizine (which has not sedative properties but being a metabolite of hydroxyzine) does moderate opioid potentition, the user would have experienced pain relief earlier once the sedation of the antihistamine kicked in. This also implies less opioids can be taken to relieve the pain.
As shown in the above case, the person reporting his experience with opioids is under great pain, and under these circumstances, tries to dull the pain. Adding an antihistamine to lessen his dose of opioids would complicate matters i.e. scheduling when to take it and how to tell the difference between an antihistamine and an opioid. So the combination would only be useful in a hospital setting where dose scheduling could be better controlled.
This is why antihistamines, especially first-generation such as Benedryl, Chlor-tripolon and hydroxyzine, are usually not given to people with their pain medication due to the risk of overdose.
This is also why tobacco products are addictive, because of the synergy between the nicotine (an acetylcholine agonist) and harmaline, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and a reversible inhibitor of MAO-A (RIMA), contained in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
A RIMA prevents the breakdown of neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine, adrenalin, dopamine, GABA, noradrenalin, serotonin, and tyrosine.
As a RIMA, harmaline also prevents histamine (a monamine) from breaking down. In high doses, with susceptible people it might cause hallucinations because of this action by preventing the breakdown of endogenous dimethyltryptamine. This is not true in all cases.
Nicotine itself too is a CNS stimulant, though its metabolite cotinine is both an anti-psychotic and nootropic.
Original post: June 10, 2010 at 7:40 PM
20131204
Confronting Narcissism: The Truth Will Set You Free (satire)
For the sake of this article, there are two types of personalities, the narcissistic and the neurotic.
While this is a simplistic notion of human personality, it suffices. Why? Because an in depth discussion of narcissism and neurosis is outside the aim of this article.
Besides, readers of the social media Twitter tend to have short attention spans.
Also note that anything in bold is the truth that will set you free.
YMMV
Anyway, I'd like to think of narcissism and neurosis as two extremes of what is called human personality.
Neurosis is completely normal, even when a person is limited by anxiety and even worse, phobias. For such limitations are easily overcome simply by practice.
Of course, it is easy for me to say this because I've overcome both anxiety and phobias, mainly by applying Frank Herbert's Litany of Fear to help conquer both the anger that is the root of anxiety and the fear that is the root of phobias.
In contrast, narcissism is abnormal. Narcissistic people are manipulative people. who maintain the egocentricity of youth but have morphed it into narcissism.
However, the egocentric personality believes that the whole world revolves around him, while the narcissist often has a strong sense of entitlement, self-esteem, and the insatiable desire to live his life out by manipulating other people.
Often the narcissistic person believes he is superior to other people, but is willing to manipulate anyone into believing in his superiority.
It's most likely that egocentricity is a component of depression, since the depressed personality tends to view the world through the distorted lens of his illness.
Often narcissism manipulates neurosis in a person who chooses to love a narcissist.
Love will not change a narcissist into a decent human being who empathizes with you and loves you as much as you love him.
Stop lying to yourself because it does not work that way. That is magical thinking, as is love that is blind to the faults of the narcissist.
Early on in any relationship, be it friends or lovers, it is up to you to present the truth about his behaviour as you see it and establish strong boundaries with him.
If he harms you in retaliation (by ignoring it or insulting you) then present the truth again in an even voice and maintain the same strong boundaries.
If this leads to sexual assault, then he broke through those boundaries because he has no respect for you and for your boundaries. Report it to the authorities and break all contact with him. This involves blocking all calls and messages from him. It may even involve learning a martial art, and expecting the unexpected.
If, on the other hand, your neuroses limits to your options to reliance on a friend or mate for emotional support and/or protection, then choose your friends wisely. Do not make the mistake of calling your new boyfriend a policeman, since it could worsen the situation.
Be aware that he will use every trick in the book to manipulate you into forming a bond with him.
Ask for advice from people who know him well, including family and friends. Even his former lovers have good advice.
If you have fallen into the habit of being jealous of rivals, then he will use this against you to "prove" that you love him more than they ever did.
Confronting the narcissistic takes courage but anyone who lets love guide her heart in such matter had better be mentally and physically prepared for the consequences.
Otherwise, you are going to be manipulated into serving him forever.
Whatever I just wrote about heterosexual relationships also applies to homosexual relationships. Manipulative people come in many flavors of gender.
Regarding my advice about not making the mistake of calling your new boyfriend a policeman, the Raoul Moat case in England was an example of a narcissist whose rage against his former partner Samantha Stoddart was fueled by the fact that she'd fibbed to him by calling her new boyfriend a policeman when he was actually a martial arts expert. The real tragedy is that her new boyfriend is dead.
This brings me to relationships with a narcissist. Should a narcissist and a neurotic ever hook up, they may eventually desire to have children.
If the narcissist believes his neurotic wife to be paying too much attention to the child, then he may become jealous of that child.
Eventually it may lead to child abuse, and he will have exercised enough control of his wife to manipulate her into avoiding any confrontation him because she fears the emotional and physical abuse that he uses on her "to keep her in line."
Instead, the neurotic will undergo a lot of stress, which will present itself in overwork, obesity, alcoholism and even prescription drug abuse.
Along the way, she may develop ulcers and eventually cancer. However, the first symptoms will be anxiety and panic attacks, along with phobias. There also will be Stockholm Syndrome, in which she protects her husband in spite of the abuse when offered help.
As well, the narcissistic husband will gaslight the neurotic wife which may lead to involuntary admission to psychiatric wards, where neurotic hospital staff will be manipulated by the husband into believing that her statements of abuse by him are due to medication.
This is why both hospital staff and associated social workers should be trained in detecting narcissists.
IMO I believe some children of narcissists do establish boundaries with their caregivers early and get mistreated as their relationship evolves into becoming the black sheep of the family.
In contrast, narcissistic caregivers who nurture their child to point of narcissism goes beyond normal childcare. Since the children are mere extensions of the caregiver, the behaviour of her child will be controlled to reflect positively on her.
A narcissist will believe that the reason why her child cries is to distract attention from her. She also learns that feeding the child keeps it quiet. If a narcissist is an addict, she may even give her drug of choice to her child to keep it quiet, be it food, alcohol or recreational drugs.
Indeed, a lot of narcissists are social drinkers. Some of them are even recreational drug users, and a few narcissists are both.
In a cruel world, a narcissistic caregiver could be likened the mother of all evil.
I also believe that ego addiction is the root of egocentrism but ego addiction in manipulative people can be overcome after the narcissistic personality is controlled. This can only happen if the person seeks help.
However, I do not believe meditation is a cure-all for narcissism and manipulative people, but rather a preventative since it will lead them to flee when offered to them. Again, meditation will only work if a person humbly seeks it.
While this is a simplistic notion of human personality, it suffices. Why? Because an in depth discussion of narcissism and neurosis is outside the aim of this article.
Besides, readers of the social media Twitter tend to have short attention spans.
Also note that anything in bold is the truth that will set you free.
YMMV
Anyway, I'd like to think of narcissism and neurosis as two extremes of what is called human personality.
Neurosis is completely normal, even when a person is limited by anxiety and even worse, phobias. For such limitations are easily overcome simply by practice.
Of course, it is easy for me to say this because I've overcome both anxiety and phobias, mainly by applying Frank Herbert's Litany of Fear to help conquer both the anger that is the root of anxiety and the fear that is the root of phobias.
In contrast, narcissism is abnormal. Narcissistic people are manipulative people. who maintain the egocentricity of youth but have morphed it into narcissism.
However, the egocentric personality believes that the whole world revolves around him, while the narcissist often has a strong sense of entitlement, self-esteem, and the insatiable desire to live his life out by manipulating other people.
Often the narcissistic person believes he is superior to other people, but is willing to manipulate anyone into believing in his superiority.
It's most likely that egocentricity is a component of depression, since the depressed personality tends to view the world through the distorted lens of his illness.
Often narcissism manipulates neurosis in a person who chooses to love a narcissist.
Love will not change a narcissist into a decent human being who empathizes with you and loves you as much as you love him.
Stop lying to yourself because it does not work that way. That is magical thinking, as is love that is blind to the faults of the narcissist.
Early on in any relationship, be it friends or lovers, it is up to you to present the truth about his behaviour as you see it and establish strong boundaries with him.
If he harms you in retaliation (by ignoring it or insulting you) then present the truth again in an even voice and maintain the same strong boundaries.
If this leads to sexual assault, then he broke through those boundaries because he has no respect for you and for your boundaries. Report it to the authorities and break all contact with him. This involves blocking all calls and messages from him. It may even involve learning a martial art, and expecting the unexpected.
If, on the other hand, your neuroses limits to your options to reliance on a friend or mate for emotional support and/or protection, then choose your friends wisely. Do not make the mistake of calling your new boyfriend a policeman, since it could worsen the situation.
Be aware that he will use every trick in the book to manipulate you into forming a bond with him.
Ask for advice from people who know him well, including family and friends. Even his former lovers have good advice.
If you have fallen into the habit of being jealous of rivals, then he will use this against you to "prove" that you love him more than they ever did.
Confronting the narcissistic takes courage but anyone who lets love guide her heart in such matter had better be mentally and physically prepared for the consequences.
Otherwise, you are going to be manipulated into serving him forever.
Whatever I just wrote about heterosexual relationships also applies to homosexual relationships. Manipulative people come in many flavors of gender.
Regarding my advice about not making the mistake of calling your new boyfriend a policeman, the Raoul Moat case in England was an example of a narcissist whose rage against his former partner Samantha Stoddart was fueled by the fact that she'd fibbed to him by calling her new boyfriend a policeman when he was actually a martial arts expert. The real tragedy is that her new boyfriend is dead.
This brings me to relationships with a narcissist. Should a narcissist and a neurotic ever hook up, they may eventually desire to have children.
If the narcissist believes his neurotic wife to be paying too much attention to the child, then he may become jealous of that child.
Eventually it may lead to child abuse, and he will have exercised enough control of his wife to manipulate her into avoiding any confrontation him because she fears the emotional and physical abuse that he uses on her "to keep her in line."
Instead, the neurotic will undergo a lot of stress, which will present itself in overwork, obesity, alcoholism and even prescription drug abuse.
Along the way, she may develop ulcers and eventually cancer. However, the first symptoms will be anxiety and panic attacks, along with phobias. There also will be Stockholm Syndrome, in which she protects her husband in spite of the abuse when offered help.
As well, the narcissistic husband will gaslight the neurotic wife which may lead to involuntary admission to psychiatric wards, where neurotic hospital staff will be manipulated by the husband into believing that her statements of abuse by him are due to medication.
This is why both hospital staff and associated social workers should be trained in detecting narcissists.
IMO I believe some children of narcissists do establish boundaries with their caregivers early and get mistreated as their relationship evolves into becoming the black sheep of the family.
In contrast, narcissistic caregivers who nurture their child to point of narcissism goes beyond normal childcare. Since the children are mere extensions of the caregiver, the behaviour of her child will be controlled to reflect positively on her.
A narcissist will believe that the reason why her child cries is to distract attention from her. She also learns that feeding the child keeps it quiet. If a narcissist is an addict, she may even give her drug of choice to her child to keep it quiet, be it food, alcohol or recreational drugs.
Indeed, a lot of narcissists are social drinkers. Some of them are even recreational drug users, and a few narcissists are both.
In a cruel world, a narcissistic caregiver could be likened the mother of all evil.
I also believe that ego addiction is the root of egocentrism but ego addiction in manipulative people can be overcome after the narcissistic personality is controlled. This can only happen if the person seeks help.
However, I do not believe meditation is a cure-all for narcissism and manipulative people, but rather a preventative since it will lead them to flee when offered to them. Again, meditation will only work if a person humbly seeks it.
20131029
Addiction and the Realm of Hungry Ghosts as Metaphor
In Buddhist cosmology, the realm of hungry ghosts is one of the Six Realms of Desire, being the second after the Hells.
These realms are metaphorical destinations where people are reborn due to the "evil" passions of strong emotions (anger, hate, fear, lust, jealousy, happiness, attachment, desire, etc).
What is so evil about strong emotions? That one may err and harm self or others or worse, both self and others. We have heard of crimes of passion where a murder is justified due to strong emotions clouding the judgment of the murderer who killed her lover due to jealousy.
Could even a child of two who hits his one-year old brother on the head with a hoe be due to evil passions? Yes, especially when the young lad runs like hell to the neighbor's property to escape justice at the hands of his mother!
Addiction is akin to being in the realm of hungry ghosts. In this way, reincarnation may be used as a metaphor to explain daily living.
Ever wonder why some practicing Buddhists could be so stoic? They have practiced meditation to calm the mind and maintain control over the biggest addiction of all: the passions.
For a Buddhist, passions (strong emotions) are evil in the sense that they almost lead one to the Hells when regularly experienced.
Such an addiction to emotions is an evil because a person could lose sight of the goal of Buddhism: to cease rebirth by putting out the flames of evil passion, and thus enter Nirvana.
How might one enter Nirvana? In this lifetime? Or, the next? Before answering the first question, the answer to the second and the third is, it depends on your past actions, your present actions and your future action. As well, the karma of your past may prevent Nirvana in this life. It might even prevent Nirvana in the next.
Below I give a rough guide to Samatha-vipassana meditation. Samatha is the meditation of stillness, while Vipassana may combine both sitting and walking meditation. If I have erred here, please correct me and I'll credit you and correct the text.
By sitting on his ass in contemplation of bliss, the Buddha practiced the meditation of stillness.
If this isn't your style, then the second method is useful as a guide
By walking while in silent meditation on a koan the Buddhist may find it possible to go beyond peace of mind.
Even though the strict Zen practitioners decry reading a sutra or even writing down one's thoughts, due to the risk of stirring up evil passion, the first meditation in stillness shows that even passions will dissipate when carefully observed.
What good then is the walking meditation?
It makes it possible to realize the meaning of this koan:
"What is your face before you were born?"
Answer: The face before I was born is not the face I was born with. For karma dictates that a practitioner may never know the face before being born. Yet he can be assured that it is not the face he was born with.
Nor will it be the face of my next birth, which brings us to a koan of my own: "What is your face after you die?" The answer is, "It's not the face I was born with nor the face before I was born."
Yet this is not reincarnation, but the transmigration of karma.
However, meditation when practiced with a true Buddha buddy beats sitting still alone.
Hungry Ghosts: http://taiyu.hubpages.com/hub/Hungry-Ghosts
These realms are metaphorical destinations where people are reborn due to the "evil" passions of strong emotions (anger, hate, fear, lust, jealousy, happiness, attachment, desire, etc).
What is so evil about strong emotions? That one may err and harm self or others or worse, both self and others. We have heard of crimes of passion where a murder is justified due to strong emotions clouding the judgment of the murderer who killed her lover due to jealousy.
Could even a child of two who hits his one-year old brother on the head with a hoe be due to evil passions? Yes, especially when the young lad runs like hell to the neighbor's property to escape justice at the hands of his mother!
Addiction is akin to being in the realm of hungry ghosts. In this way, reincarnation may be used as a metaphor to explain daily living.
Ever wonder why some practicing Buddhists could be so stoic? They have practiced meditation to calm the mind and maintain control over the biggest addiction of all: the passions.
For a Buddhist, passions (strong emotions) are evil in the sense that they almost lead one to the Hells when regularly experienced.
Such an addiction to emotions is an evil because a person could lose sight of the goal of Buddhism: to cease rebirth by putting out the flames of evil passion, and thus enter Nirvana.
How might one enter Nirvana? In this lifetime? Or, the next? Before answering the first question, the answer to the second and the third is, it depends on your past actions, your present actions and your future action. As well, the karma of your past may prevent Nirvana in this life. It might even prevent Nirvana in the next.
Below I give a rough guide to Samatha-vipassana meditation. Samatha is the meditation of stillness, while Vipassana may combine both sitting and walking meditation. If I have erred here, please correct me and I'll credit you and correct the text.
By sitting on his ass in contemplation of bliss, the Buddha practiced the meditation of stillness.
If this isn't your style, then the second method is useful as a guide
By walking while in silent meditation on a koan the Buddhist may find it possible to go beyond peace of mind.
Even though the strict Zen practitioners decry reading a sutra or even writing down one's thoughts, due to the risk of stirring up evil passion, the first meditation in stillness shows that even passions will dissipate when carefully observed.
What good then is the walking meditation?
It makes it possible to realize the meaning of this koan:
"What is your face before you were born?"
Answer: The face before I was born is not the face I was born with. For karma dictates that a practitioner may never know the face before being born. Yet he can be assured that it is not the face he was born with.
Nor will it be the face of my next birth, which brings us to a koan of my own: "What is your face after you die?" The answer is, "It's not the face I was born with nor the face before I was born."
Yet this is not reincarnation, but the transmigration of karma.
However, meditation when practiced with a true Buddha buddy beats sitting still alone.
Hungry Ghosts: http://taiyu.hubpages.com/hub/Hungry-Ghosts
20130816
New Left and Addiction to Power (satire)
Over 10 years ago, the New Left certainly liked their recreational drug use.
If you become a drug abuser and abused your girlfriend or wife because of heavy abuse, then the New Left would accuse you of being a fake New Left party animal and label you a MAN guilty of domestic abuse, warning everyone in the party to stop sharing their party drugs with them.
This may include violent removal of said man ("eviction") from the former spouse's domicile.
The police will target you, and you could end up on Skid Row, sleeping in a homeless shelter, made homeless due to reverse domestic abuse.
This is is a true story for one member of the New Left. When he got into some bad drugs and abused his spouse, she complained to the New Left junta who feel entitled to saving the world.
So they outed him, and nobody cares what happened to him.
However, it may be true that that the New Left has a problem with addiction, especially addiction to power and control.
If you become a drug abuser and abused your girlfriend or wife because of heavy abuse, then the New Left would accuse you of being a fake New Left party animal and label you a MAN guilty of domestic abuse, warning everyone in the party to stop sharing their party drugs with them.
This may include violent removal of said man ("eviction") from the former spouse's domicile.
The police will target you, and you could end up on Skid Row, sleeping in a homeless shelter, made homeless due to reverse domestic abuse.
This is is a true story for one member of the New Left. When he got into some bad drugs and abused his spouse, she complained to the New Left junta who feel entitled to saving the world.
So they outed him, and nobody cares what happened to him.
However, it may be true that that the New Left has a problem with addiction, especially addiction to power and control.
20121227
Methamphetamine Kills
Methamphetamine does not discriminate against bisexuals, gays, or heterosexual people. However, its use is high amongst gay people since it affects the libido.
Methamphetamine raises the blood pressure. This could lead to cardiovascular disease including risk of heart attack and/or stroke.
As well, methamphetamine turns on the body's thermostat.
This makes it difficult to concentrate, and when you do concentrate it's on ways to get a rush as a reward for it. In the quest to score more methamphetamine, impulse control goes down the drain. Caution is replaced with risky behavior — combined with heightened libido, you may abandon condoms for riding bareback. This will lead to the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases or worse, AIDS.
If you don't get your reward, then you might get angry. That anger will both fuel and feed off aggressive behavior until it leads to confrontations with whomever may prevent you from getting another rush.
During regular use of methamphetamine, you sleep less, but this kind of insomnia is not under anyone's total control because even in the hypomanic stage of sleeplessness, your productiveness and friendliness is suspect.
When the bouts of insomnia last for days, there is a strong chance that mania will occur with psychotic breaks occurring which include hallucinations where you think there are bugs under your skin or paranoia where you think somebody is trying to spy on you.
Methamphetamine use will burn you out, and leave you irrational as though a raging beast is trying to get out. Your work productivity will be reduced because it is impossible to concentrate when the ambient temperature seems like 30° C when actually your body temperature is close to 40°.
Due to loss of appetite, women on methamphetamine will become anorexic to the point of the menstrual cycle stopping.
Because of the fire that's raging inside you, you start to dry out from inside out. Your skin shrinks, and your head turns grey. You lose your beauty and often your mind. What's worse is if you get AIDS, the disease will ravage you within months, due to reduced immune system, initially caused by methamphetamine and worsened by the disease itself.
Regarding the immune system, methamphetamine use reduces its function. As its function is reduced, human endoretrovirii (HERV) awaken and lower the immune system. When the AIDS virus infects you, it chemically signals the HERV to go into overdrive which lowers the immune system further, leading to cancer and TB.
In the end, you die from the secondary diseases due to a dysfunctional immune system. That is, if you don't die from a heart attack, stroke or suicide due to depression.
Methamphetamine raises the blood pressure. This could lead to cardiovascular disease including risk of heart attack and/or stroke.
As well, methamphetamine turns on the body's thermostat.
This makes it difficult to concentrate, and when you do concentrate it's on ways to get a rush as a reward for it. In the quest to score more methamphetamine, impulse control goes down the drain. Caution is replaced with risky behavior — combined with heightened libido, you may abandon condoms for riding bareback. This will lead to the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases or worse, AIDS.
If you don't get your reward, then you might get angry. That anger will both fuel and feed off aggressive behavior until it leads to confrontations with whomever may prevent you from getting another rush.
During regular use of methamphetamine, you sleep less, but this kind of insomnia is not under anyone's total control because even in the hypomanic stage of sleeplessness, your productiveness and friendliness is suspect.
When the bouts of insomnia last for days, there is a strong chance that mania will occur with psychotic breaks occurring which include hallucinations where you think there are bugs under your skin or paranoia where you think somebody is trying to spy on you.
Methamphetamine use will burn you out, and leave you irrational as though a raging beast is trying to get out. Your work productivity will be reduced because it is impossible to concentrate when the ambient temperature seems like 30° C when actually your body temperature is close to 40°.
Due to loss of appetite, women on methamphetamine will become anorexic to the point of the menstrual cycle stopping.
Because of the fire that's raging inside you, you start to dry out from inside out. Your skin shrinks, and your head turns grey. You lose your beauty and often your mind. What's worse is if you get AIDS, the disease will ravage you within months, due to reduced immune system, initially caused by methamphetamine and worsened by the disease itself.
Regarding the immune system, methamphetamine use reduces its function. As its function is reduced, human endoretrovirii (HERV) awaken and lower the immune system. When the AIDS virus infects you, it chemically signals the HERV to go into overdrive which lowers the immune system further, leading to cancer and TB.
In the end, you die from the secondary diseases due to a dysfunctional immune system. That is, if you don't die from a heart attack, stroke or suicide due to depression.
20121223
Ethnic Solidarity in Fostering
Nothing in this blog entry is expert opinion but is based on observation of the effects of foster families. Hence it is biased and needs a rewrite. So if after you read this article and object to anything I recommend or say, then I urge you to comment to me.
It's not to hard to get a Gmail account and to become a GooglePlus member when that restricts comments. However, I am not a firm believer in perpetuating the evils of open comments, because the goods of rational discussion are not supported by the evils of spamming, and darkly negative comments which stop discussion dead.
Essentially, the family's cohesiveness ought never be challenged by the State. For the consequences of State involvement in the break-up of family are worse than the immediate situation IF and only IF the family is so dysfunctional that the children's security and safety are at threat.
During the interview to become a foster parent, it is up to the social worker to get a complete picture of the foster parents, his or her parents, and how everyone grew up. This thus will involve family therapists, and other mental health professionals. As it stands now, the gaping holes in the process leading up to being a foster parent need to be repaired.
Making these statements about foster parenting is in no way 'attacking' good foster parents. It is merely asking of social workers to enhance the security of family and the security of fostering. If this is actually done now, and my words are not in touch with today, then my words only show that I expect the process to continue to weed out "bad" parents.
One warning sign of "bad" parenting is when the social worker asks the question, "How are things going on in the home?" and there is an awkward silence followed by "Fine", "Things are alright and Sally is doing well", and "I really like it here. Thanks." Yet the foster parents and the foster child assigned to the home are not making eye contact with the workers.
If this is an Asian family with an Asian children, then the cultural trait of deference should be assumed. If they were suspected of having problems, then it's important to then say, "Well, off the record, are there problem between you, Joe and you, Jane?" and then after a minute, "How about you, Sally?" Finally, individual interviews need to be taken to help avoid the tendency for family groups to "put the lid on rotten garbage".
I actually encourage ethnic solidarity to be the practice of social workers. A lot of the problems in foster families is that the cultural milieu of the foster home may be at odds with the culture in which the child grew up. When the child is between 12 and 18, cultural traits are already hardwired and therefore, there will always be confrontation between the foster parents and the child being fostered. Therefore it is recommended that the child be matched by cultural origin, before other criteria are added to ensure fostering avoids the pitfall of any underlying agenda to continue the cycle of patriarchy.
Ethnic solidarity implies that both the child's cultural traits and the foster parents' traits match. When they do not match, then the foster parents are disqualified. Thus the home must be Asian if the child is Asian. However, the parents may be Asian or non-Asians who have adopted most of the Asian cultural traits through assimilation in an Asian community or country. This is not a racialist priotity; this is a multicultural priority.
Objection to this ethnic solidarity may be that any family is good enough to the child when his or her needs are met. I would argue that without a good ethnic match, the foster parents will rarely get the foster child from observing their family rules when the child has had a relax set of rules made arbitarily.
If you want confirmation of that, check out The World's Strictest Parents on Youtube.
It's not to hard to get a Gmail account and to become a GooglePlus member when that restricts comments. However, I am not a firm believer in perpetuating the evils of open comments, because the goods of rational discussion are not supported by the evils of spamming, and darkly negative comments which stop discussion dead.
Essentially, the family's cohesiveness ought never be challenged by the State. For the consequences of State involvement in the break-up of family are worse than the immediate situation IF and only IF the family is so dysfunctional that the children's security and safety are at threat.
During the interview to become a foster parent, it is up to the social worker to get a complete picture of the foster parents, his or her parents, and how everyone grew up. This thus will involve family therapists, and other mental health professionals. As it stands now, the gaping holes in the process leading up to being a foster parent need to be repaired.
Making these statements about foster parenting is in no way 'attacking' good foster parents. It is merely asking of social workers to enhance the security of family and the security of fostering. If this is actually done now, and my words are not in touch with today, then my words only show that I expect the process to continue to weed out "bad" parents.
One warning sign of "bad" parenting is when the social worker asks the question, "How are things going on in the home?" and there is an awkward silence followed by "Fine", "Things are alright and Sally is doing well", and "I really like it here. Thanks." Yet the foster parents and the foster child assigned to the home are not making eye contact with the workers.
If this is an Asian family with an Asian children, then the cultural trait of deference should be assumed. If they were suspected of having problems, then it's important to then say, "Well, off the record, are there problem between you, Joe and you, Jane?" and then after a minute, "How about you, Sally?" Finally, individual interviews need to be taken to help avoid the tendency for family groups to "put the lid on rotten garbage".
I actually encourage ethnic solidarity to be the practice of social workers. A lot of the problems in foster families is that the cultural milieu of the foster home may be at odds with the culture in which the child grew up. When the child is between 12 and 18, cultural traits are already hardwired and therefore, there will always be confrontation between the foster parents and the child being fostered. Therefore it is recommended that the child be matched by cultural origin, before other criteria are added to ensure fostering avoids the pitfall of any underlying agenda to continue the cycle of patriarchy.
Ethnic solidarity implies that both the child's cultural traits and the foster parents' traits match. When they do not match, then the foster parents are disqualified. Thus the home must be Asian if the child is Asian. However, the parents may be Asian or non-Asians who have adopted most of the Asian cultural traits through assimilation in an Asian community or country. This is not a racialist priotity; this is a multicultural priority.
Objection to this ethnic solidarity may be that any family is good enough to the child when his or her needs are met. I would argue that without a good ethnic match, the foster parents will rarely get the foster child from observing their family rules when the child has had a relax set of rules made arbitarily.
If you want confirmation of that, check out The World's Strictest Parents on Youtube.
20110525
Insomnia Again
Consistently for the past two weeks I've been having insomnia almost every other day.
I'm going to attribute it to technology addiction.
The good news is, the gabapentin is helping me get rested by helping me fall into a deeper sleep than what the benzodiazepines (librium, ativan etc) can provide.
It's even better than Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta -- since none of these prescription sleep aid give you more than light sleep. Hence the morning after hang over. Most of the Z-drug will cause one to have hallucinations and amnesia.
In one case, a user of Ambien woke up to discover that her gardening in the backyard had morphed into digging a deep hole, all done whilst sleepwalking after taking the drug.
20121209: Since this post was written over a year and a half ago, the technology addiction has lessened somewhat. I tend to go to bed regularly rather than staying up all the time, though last week I did get insomnia twice, due to the same addiction.
However, I feel that my life's improved since May 25, 2011.
Though my supply of gabapentin needs refilling, as does my flexeril.
Hopefully, Monday will see me get up and out of bed and straight to the doctor's office.
I'm going to attribute it to technology addiction.
The good news is, the gabapentin is helping me get rested by helping me fall into a deeper sleep than what the benzodiazepines (librium, ativan etc) can provide.
It's even better than Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta -- since none of these prescription sleep aid give you more than light sleep. Hence the morning after hang over. Most of the Z-drug will cause one to have hallucinations and amnesia.
In one case, a user of Ambien woke up to discover that her gardening in the backyard had morphed into digging a deep hole, all done whilst sleepwalking after taking the drug.
20121209: Since this post was written over a year and a half ago, the technology addiction has lessened somewhat. I tend to go to bed regularly rather than staying up all the time, though last week I did get insomnia twice, due to the same addiction.
However, I feel that my life's improved since May 25, 2011.
Though my supply of gabapentin needs refilling, as does my flexeril.
Hopefully, Monday will see me get up and out of bed and straight to the doctor's office.
20110519
Quality time affected by Internet use
It has been noted that excessive online time cuts into time spent cultivating relationships with friends, family and loved ones. |
Reference:
How Much Time People Spent Online in 2010 (US Statistics) | TechDasher: http://techdasher.com/average-time-people-spent-online-in-2010-u-s-statistics/
Average Internet User Now Spends 68 Hours Per Month Online | Masher:
http://mashable.com/2009/10/14/net-usage-nielsen/
20070228
Paroxetine (Paxil) is Addictive
My doctor told me that this medication was non-addictive. Even when I described the physical and mental effects I was experiencing from withdrawl, she insisted that this was due only to the bodies struggle to rid itself of a chemical. If this is not addiction then what is? It soon became obvious to me that, after taking the pills for a month, the patient knows far more about them that the doctor and they are, in effect, on their own.
Two weeks ago I took my last half-tablet after gradually reducing the amount I was taking. The side-effects I have experienced are as follows:
1. Panic attacks far worse than I experienced before going onto the drug.
2. disorientation and trouble keeping my balance.
3. Involuntary crying and the feeling that I cannot cope with the slightest problem.
4. Depression and sleeplessness.
5. Stomach cramps and sickness.
6. Dizziness when standing up.
7. Tiredness and mood swings.
I am posting this message because the withdrawl of this so-called non-addictive drug makes you feel as though this is the 'normal' state the patient is returning to. As though this disorientation, that makes you feel 'crazy' and out-of-touch with the world is how you are going to feel forever. But this is not the case as i am realising as the time since taking my last tablet increases. My father took Vallium in the sixties and was told at the time it was a non-addictive drug. This is now obviously not the case and I wonder if, in time, the same might be true of paroxetine. The withdrawl effects are severe enough to warrant further tests I'm sure.
SSRI discontinuance syndrome is real. Another patient reports mood instability was worsened by paxil. That patient became stable on 10 mg of Lexapro.
Thus, Breggin's recommendation stands: Don't use anti-depressants when depressed. Use talk therapy. This means that friends of depressed patients should maintain contact with thir depressed friends.
Have you talked with your negative and majorly depressed friend today?
Two weeks ago I took my last half-tablet after gradually reducing the amount I was taking. The side-effects I have experienced are as follows:
1. Panic attacks far worse than I experienced before going onto the drug.
2. disorientation and trouble keeping my balance.
3. Involuntary crying and the feeling that I cannot cope with the slightest problem.
4. Depression and sleeplessness.
5. Stomach cramps and sickness.
6. Dizziness when standing up.
7. Tiredness and mood swings.
I am posting this message because the withdrawl of this so-called non-addictive drug makes you feel as though this is the 'normal' state the patient is returning to. As though this disorientation, that makes you feel 'crazy' and out-of-touch with the world is how you are going to feel forever. But this is not the case as i am realising as the time since taking my last tablet increases. My father took Vallium in the sixties and was told at the time it was a non-addictive drug. This is now obviously not the case and I wonder if, in time, the same might be true of paroxetine. The withdrawl effects are severe enough to warrant further tests I'm sure.
SSRI discontinuance syndrome is real. Another patient reports mood instability was worsened by paxil. That patient became stable on 10 mg of Lexapro.
Thus, Breggin's recommendation stands: Don't use anti-depressants when depressed. Use talk therapy. This means that friends of depressed patients should maintain contact with thir depressed friends.
Have you talked with your negative and majorly depressed friend today?
20060305
Let Go Your Hold
The Buddha said:
"In every direction," said the Buddha, "above, below, around, and within, you see things you know and recognize. Put them down. Do not let consciousness dwell on the products of existence and things that come and go, for there is no rest of relief there. When you understand that by taking the objects of the world for granted as total reality, you are tied to the world, then this understanding will release you from your dependence on objects and will stop your craving and your desire for constant becoming. Then you can let go your hold and engage with things as they are, instead."
-Sutta Nipata
This quote is from the Dhammapada, and urges the follower to stop clinging to "things you know and recognize". For clinging is holding tight to "products of existence and things that come and go" i.e. to impermanent objects which have finite existence i.e. your computer, food, or a favorite song.
"...There is no rest of relief there." refers to the suffering which clinging to existence may cause.
Taking the world for granted as total reality ties us to the world. By letting go of clinging, I do not have to give away my possessions. In letting go of the objects of this world, I see that they are not the total reality of existence at all.
Thinking in this way, I am no longer tied to the world. I am released from my dependence on objects. My craving and desire for constant becoming has ceased.
Having let go my hold, I am free to engage with things as they are.
"In every direction," said the Buddha, "above, below, around, and within, you see things you know and recognize. Put them down. Do not let consciousness dwell on the products of existence and things that come and go, for there is no rest of relief there. When you understand that by taking the objects of the world for granted as total reality, you are tied to the world, then this understanding will release you from your dependence on objects and will stop your craving and your desire for constant becoming. Then you can let go your hold and engage with things as they are, instead."
-Sutta Nipata
This quote is from the Dhammapada, and urges the follower to stop clinging to "things you know and recognize". For clinging is holding tight to "products of existence and things that come and go" i.e. to impermanent objects which have finite existence i.e. your computer, food, or a favorite song.
"...There is no rest of relief there." refers to the suffering which clinging to existence may cause.
Taking the world for granted as total reality ties us to the world. By letting go of clinging, I do not have to give away my possessions. In letting go of the objects of this world, I see that they are not the total reality of existence at all.
Thinking in this way, I am no longer tied to the world. I am released from my dependence on objects. My craving and desire for constant becoming has ceased.
Having let go my hold, I am free to engage with things as they are.
20051211
Anti Drugwar Czar Leads the Way to Conquering Addiction
Anti Drugwar Czar: This website cuts through the hyperbole of the anti-drug "war" against marijuana which is more dangerous than smoking pot itself.
Statistics have shown repeatedly that the use of alcohol causes much more death per capita from alcohol-related conditions than the use of marijuana.
Even so, meditation has been shown to help deal with the root cause for addictions.
References:
Alcoholism leading cause of death: http://www.nutramed.com/alcohol/alcoholism.htm
Deaths Caused by Marijuana: http://frankdiscussion.netfirms.com/info_statistics.html
Hungry Ghosts: Can insight meditation (Vipassana Meditation) help with addictions: http://www.skillfulmeditation.org/articles/hungryghosts.html
Statistics have shown repeatedly that the use of alcohol causes much more death per capita from alcohol-related conditions than the use of marijuana.
Even so, meditation has been shown to help deal with the root cause for addictions.
References:
Alcoholism leading cause of death: http://www.nutramed.com/alcohol/alcoholism.htm
Deaths Caused by Marijuana: http://frankdiscussion.netfirms.com/info_statistics.html
Hungry Ghosts: Can insight meditation (Vipassana Meditation) help with addictions: http://www.skillfulmeditation.org/articles/hungryghosts.html
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