Bells are ringing throughout the empty building, bells are ringing.
Ghosts are dancing the forgotten ballroom dancing, ghosts are dancing.
Who, dares to visit at this hour, at this manor?
What, brings them to this lonely place, looking for a last embrace?
Only a madman or a man in love, would ignore the warnings from above.
An officer back from the war, looking for what is no more.
Creak goes the door as it opens, as the soldier dares a peek.
A mansion once filled with laughter, now is hollow and missing a daughter.
The soldier had survived twelve canons roaring, the blood, the smoke and close quarter ‘swording’.
The loss of an eye was not nearly as blinding, as the fact that his fiancée had gone tired of waiting.
Memories and even the on looking mice mocked his pitiful state, there was only one way to deal with such fate.
A fire was struck and torches were made, the dusty old curtains set ablaze so that all soon would fade.
From love to vengeful madness, the once blossoming house turned to ashes and drabness.
As the officer mounted his stead and headed away, a few fresh graves made him stray.
Headstones were marked with name and date of birth, and a very recent date of death.
Alicia, died of heartache in the year seventeen ninety-four, beloved daughter and fiancée to the brave killed in war, officer Joseph H. Moore.
Words that entice, words that enchant. Give me the words to provide them short and long tales of fright, happiness won and glory lost. This mind is a creaky wooden ship on a troubled sea of thoughts and impetuous winds. Being tossed aimlessly from wave to wave towards the edge of the map where it all ends for everyone. Once upon awhile a storied creäture from the depths rears one of its hideous heads. It brings disease and doubt. The nights are long and cold, but the lightning keeps us on our path.
Give me words, words that make the candles burn faster, words that make the heart beat louder.
Some truths are self-evident and others just need to be blurted out: 10 reasons why I would be an Awesome (with a capital A) dictator.
First and foremost, the following clarification is needed, by ‘Awesome’ dictator I do NOT mean a benevolent despot or enlightened ruler that may be tolerated or justified as the lesser of two evils. No. I would dedicate every minute of my repressive rule to dominating, ruling the world and promoting the glory of ME. The worst of the worst would tremble in my shadow, I have a unique skill set that would make me an asset to any evil organization or totalitarian regime.
Now, 10 reasons why I would be an awesome dictator:
1. Evil and fascism comes naturally to me.– Even at a young age I always rooted for the bad guys. Darth Vader (Star Wars), Skeletor (He-Man‘s arch nemesis), Cobra (Evil organization in G.I. Joe), Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). It was excruciating to watch perfectly laid evil plans come undone at the least minute by the action and sometimes inaction of goofy good doers. How many times has complete and utter world domination only depended on pressing one BIG red button that would activate some machine or ultimate weapon? But no, they failed us every time. because they do not have what it takes, but I do. Read on.
2. Just enough fear is good motivation. – Mass imprisonment and executions are counter productive. That is where so many past dictators have gone wrong, the people have to have the guillotine blade hover over their heads just low enough to remind them that it is there. A random execution from time to time would help too. But this would be 100% randomized so as to not discourage the people too much. Think of it as winning the lottery, but not.
3. I have great ideas, but democracy is holding me back. – Haven’t we all faced this dilemma at some point in time? Abstract things such as congress, laws and the constitution get in the way of revolutionary ideas and cause unnecessary delays. My first order as President for life would be to abolish these, I would also order Apple to make me a governmental iPhone app so that I could pass laws by tweeting, for example “From this day forth, all shall kiss my feet at least once a year #BecauseISaySo”. I often have my best ideas while in bed or waiting inline at the bank.
4. I am not totally uncontrollable, I will limit myself to one wife. – While many tyrants have gone too far having 7 wives or armed female body guards, one is all I need. Thank you very much.
5. It is always someone else’s fault. – Economic sanctions? Expulsions from the United Nations? Who needs them anyway! All of these thinly veiled attacks on our country are proof that the rest of the world are out to destroy us and any form of dissent or economic hardships are all part of a mass conspiracy. But have no fear, I am here!
6. You are constantly under attack, and only I can save you. – See above.
7. If only you realized how awesome you are, you would realize I am awesome-er. – You are a great nation, inheritors of a proud and noble tradition, the chosen people by the almighty himself! That is why you need me to lead you to greatness, you obviously won’t achieve anything by yourself. In fact, I would rather be playing online role playing games but I do this for you and our country. You are welcome.
8. Lack of moral compass or religious sympathies to derail my plans. – No need to worry about flip-flopping or going weak. Human rights or morality don’t apply in my case, and I will do what is needed. You may rest assured that religion will never be encouraged, unless it can be used for political gain. It will be my way or the highway.
9. Delusional, obsessive and egocentric, yet I have an exit strategy (for me only). – Some people just never know when to quit. Although I will plan to reign for 1,000 years or more, if invaded by a superior force I will not cling to power and watch my people suffer unnecessarily. An island with a mansion has been built at an undisclosed location and is protected by sharks with deadly lasers. I will relocate to said island as soon as the first enemy troops enter our capital, but since that will never happen, there is no need to worry. NONE THE LESS, if we were to be invaded or ‘liberated’, have no fear, a healthy portion of the people’s wealth has been put in an offshore account that only I have access to and will protect and spend (at my discretion) for the greater good. Once again, you are welcome.
In the past I have always looked to the future with blind optimism. Not that I have been known for being the cheerful one (I am grinning right now at the irony of it all), but after some turbulent years I did in fact emerge stronger, just like the well-worn saying “what doesn’t kill me..”. People have often remarked that I was the fortunate one, had a lucky star and I have to admit that I have lived a very fortunate life.
Problem is, as things stand today, my life and the path it is on could be described as “basic” and I don’t see things improving. Why the word Basic? I have all the bases covered: Job? Check, a roof over my head? Check, an amazing person that loves me? Triple check!! yet I am fairly certain a career change is in the works, and that implies moving again and starting from scratch again.. Which does present new opportunities, total freedom and a refreshing change, but it also means sticking to the basics, which we have done for over 4 years now. There’s that word again. Basic. For the foreseeable future it will mean living out of 2 suitcases, no car, no fixed residency until something is found, no furniture and most importantly no fixed income until a job is secured. Could I have chosen a worst time for a career change and a big move? Half the world lives In poverty and the other half is bankrupt and doesn’t want to admit it.
There are certain unfulfilled items that need to be added to the previous checklist. A baby, I can’t wait to have a little version of me running amuck, but financially it would be irresponsible. Blank for now. A career change, spend my professional life doing something I am really passionate about. Blank, but about to make a change. Financial security, BiG Blank see previous item.
I recall dark movies where the future version of the world are dark dystopias where all humanity is lost. Food wars, people treated like cattle and repressive governments. With every news broadcast I can’t shake the feeling that we are living in one, that the best years are behind us, and future generations will never have it as good as we did. I guess it really does depend on who you ask, the starving children in Africa, political prisoners in North Korea or economic migrants from all corners of the world desperate for a basic life. And here I am winning. Although, don’t we all deserve more somehow?
*EDIT: Please read the comments bellow, I believe a pretty interesting conversation ensued.
Dumbfounded, Perplexed, Surprised are some of the things that come to mind when I think of the hopefuls running for president of one the most powerful countries in the world. It is excruciating to see these grown men and woman trying so hard to be something they are clearly not. Leaders with solutions. Just who do they think they are kidding? Let me clarify that I neither Democrat nor Republican supporter, but I am pro common sense and all of the mainstream Republican candidates just seem to be making things up as they go along, the only serious individual who doesn’t need a teleprompter, speaks from 30 years of experience and shoots from the hip is the gentleman in the video above, Dr. Ron Paul.
In my humble opinion, Ron Paul is the only candidate that is clearly and consistently, ANTI war, PRO freedom, ANTI policing the world, ANTI profiling Americans, PRO budget and fiscal responsibility.
It is clear that Ron Paul can debate any candidate or speaker under the table, does not use populist catch phrases to grab headlines and avoid answering tough questions. Indeed the man has answers for everything, and doesn’t skip a beat defending American ideals.
Ron Paul Highlights from the above video include (loosely typed out, please watch video):
“Needless and unnecessary wars are a great deterrent and undermine our prosperity and our liberty.”
“I think the patriot act is unpatriotic.”
“Our early founders were very clear, don’t give up liberty for security.”
“Terrorism is a tactic, it isn’t a person, it isn’t a people. (referring to the so-called declaration of war of Terrorism).”
“Why does Israel need our help? We need to get out of their way! (…) Israel has 200, 300 missiles (…) We have no treaty with Israel, why do have to automatically commit our kids and money to Israel?”
“Nobody cares about the budget, we’re in big trouble (…) The biggest threat to our national security is our FINANCIAL condition.”
“They ( the congress) is not cutting anything, it is all just talk. (…) it is a road to disaster, we better wake up.”
“I am tired of all the money and lives lost worrying about the border between Afghanistan – Pakistan, forgetting about our border with Mexico.”
“I think the federal war on drugs is a total failure. (…) Alcohol is a deadly drug, the real deadly drug is the prescription drug, they kill more people than illegal drugs (…) The kids can still get drugs.”
“All the Taliban want to do is get us out of their country, just like we would do if somebody tried to occupy us.”
Could you imagine how exciting a Ron Paul Vs. Barrack Obama debate would be? For once, it might just be about the issues and not another blind attempt to grab power. Ron Paul gives voters credit, by telling them what he think without simplifying the issues. I just hope voters and media give him the credit that is due.
Wow. I had a great idea for a post (at least I thought so), as I sat in front of the laptop shwuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush. Yes, I believe that is the medical term, SHWUSH.
Just like that the idea was gone. It must be all the hours I sit in front of this thing (laptop), my brain is so familiar with the soul numbing boredom it induces that it goes into SLEEP MODE to self protect it. Great.
Brain in Sleep Mode.
Funny (not really) how despite living in digital world some work spaces inspire creativity while others are screaming “Oh no, not another 8 hours of this again”. Even within my tiny cosy loft apartment, any attempt to be productive on the couch in front of the TV is futile, and you can forget about anything good coming out. But by relocating a few feet to the desk facing the wall (and a few inches of a window), the thoughts machine gets switched on again and it just flows. Perhaps it is important to compartmentalize our world and create islands or sanctuaries.
Not sure where it all started. Must have been all the big macs, double whoppers, m&ms and donuts that needed dunkin’ during my teenage years. It is my drug of choice, but ultimately I know the short-term pleasure is not worth the bloated feelings of self-pity that linger afterwords. In my youth I never gained a pound, when I had enough of being skinny I purposely ate ice cream by the gallon, had four meals a day and by way of push ups, dumbbells and sit ups managed to put on much needed healthy weight and muscle mass.
Fast forward a few years, lost the weight and some muscle due to being bound to a desk all day, regained muscle, then lost it all, got reacquainted with fast food and gained a LOT of weight. At least in my case, when I start to have a protruding belly and every body movement feels like an effort, alarm bells start ringing in my head. Yesterday I could ignore the alarms no longer, I hit the gym for the first time in a long time, armed with my trusty mp3 player I just wanted to run, run and run I did. Best exorcism ever!
Call it positive paranoia, but I like to be on good enough shape to take off running at any given moment. For example if I had to chase down a mugger or run after an out of control baby stroller.. Jump in the ocean and swim half an hour to shore. Just need to feel like I could hold my own in any given situation.
Letting my body rest today, if nothing is sore tomorrow I will hit the elliptical machine again (my gym is part of the building complex and very limited). Feeling healthier already and stopped eating processed fatty food, which here in the States is just about 95% food out there. But yay for me!
Recently I have had the pleasure of coming into contact with some very relatable people. As they describe the difficulty or unwillingness to label themselves, their commitment to become improved versions of self. I can’t help but relate since I have had an eerily similar epiphany very recently.
It is my mission to surround myself with positive folk such as these who will illuminate the way forward. Unfortunately they are on Tumblr.. I don’t know enough to write a Tumblr Vs. WordPress rant, but I am trying to find an alternative to subscribing to yet another service. If you can’t tell, I am on WordPress and kinda liking it. Hopefully my Gmail account will suffice, but when googling “How do I follow Tumblr via WordPress” in the hopes of finding a suitable WP (WordPress) plugin, Google’s auto search complete thingy came up with the following.. “HOW CAN I FORGIVE YOU”, wow.
How can I forgive you
I do not know what is more disturbing, the fact that Google might be trying to send me a message (!)or that this result may well be based on the most popular searches..
Decades of marketing have managed to convince the majority of us into believing that banks and corporations exist to provide (indispensable) services to us the consumer. But who is really “consuming” who? Do mortgages work for us, or do we work for our mortgages?
Banks and corporations only owe allegiance to their shareholders, any illusion of the contrary is wishful thinking and the product of successful marketing. Their reason to exist is to make money, and lots of it. This is not a anti-establishment accusation, but a simple truth. Why start a business if it is not profitable? The problem today is, in the People Vs. Corporation game, who protects the people if the game is rigged and all dissent is dismissed as anti-American ideas?
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed) Principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom (1777), the third President of the United States (1801–1809) and founder of the University of Virginia (1819). Founding Father and an exponent of Jeffersonian democracy.
I go to great lengths to avoid rants and believe being objective is a pillar of sound thinking. But with the economy and our world crumbling around us one thing is clear, we need a change. It is time for us to step up and make our voices heard, let politicians and corporations know we want our lives back.
Share this video with everyone you know, YOU have the power to make this video GO VIRAL.
Credit goes to @vaites for sharing this video with me :)
Relampo 