Why is it when people hear of another person's passing, they offer this comfort to survivors: "They're in a better place."
Is that really always the case? How would you know, anyway? A few years ago, I wrote a paper for a class about people's right to die. A key source document was Derek Humphries,' "Final Exit." The whole thing about it is, What is life?
A fundamental question is, can a person in a wheelchair enjoy his or her life? Absolutely. Can another person confined thusly have a miserable existence? Of course. Who gets to decide which one gets to enjoy life and which has to suffer? Assuming there is no god making this decision and that life just happens, who gets to decide? Congress? May the stars fall from the sky first. The family? Who's to say they will make an unbiased decision. A court? No better than congress and assuredly not unbiased, people.
The point made by that long ago paper is that the decision should be made by the person whose life is in question. There are those who can enjoy a life as a paraplegic or quadriplegic. I suppose they are to be admired. Let them live their lives as best they know how. Nobody else is in a place to determine what is right for those individuals. Only the individual should decide.
By the same token, if a helpless confined person decides that life has already ended for them, who are we to say they are required to live? The decision is no more ours than the decision that a guy should die if he wants to live. Why would we be in a better position to tell a person he should live if he wants to die?
I'm not talking about your healthy individual suffering from depression who is looking for a way to commit suicide. No, those people should be helped with whatever it is they need in order to make the decision to live. They have a treatable problem and should be assisted to take every opportunity life has to offer.
No, I'm talking about the person whose physical ability to live has been severely impaired and for whom opportunity has been severely limited.
Sooooo, having said all of that, my original point is, why is it that people think that when someone dies, they should say, "It's just as well. They're in a better place now?" How on earth or heaven would they know? Suppose you're a believer, maybe the guy is now in hell treading flames? How would you know that the person is sitting on the right hand of a (sadistic) god? Regardless, what if there nothing after this life, maybe the guy really wanted to live, not die, how does that put him in a better place? I should think that it's only a better place if the person was really interested in dying in order to end suffering at the end of a well-lived life.
Maybe I'm picking on a point which hasn't much impact but hey. how many people have ever thought of this? I've never heard it discussed.
--Wag--
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Nobody is crying to get OUT!
America seems to be taking a beating these days. We get verbal abuse from every population in the world but the fact is, this is a damn nice place to live. Millions of people all over the world are risking life and limb to get here for one thing and one thing only: Opportunity.
Nowhere else on earth does it exist in such abundance. Look at Saudi Arabia. Rich with oil money to the extent the really don't have a clue what to do with it. At least, the people who have it. That means, the royal family and their people. They're rolling nicely. The average Saudi, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have a whole lot of it and more importantly than anything else, seems to have little opportunity to get any of it.
There's that word again. Opportunity. Look at Mexico. Same thing. Most of South and Central America. Cuba. China. Indonesia. With the exception of Europe, where is ample opportunity besides America? Even comparing Europe and the U.S., the opportunity you have in Europe is taxed to oblivion. Oh, wait. Don't forget about Canada but there again, you're taxed to death!
Only in the U.S do we have the wealth of opportunity so great WE don't really know what to do with it. Opportunity great and small. Opportunity far and wide. Opportunity for education, experience, wealth, leisure, social interaction with your chosen people. Opportunity exists for health, peace, prosperity, information, religion . . . . Even the opportunity to say how much you love it here. Or hate it here.
What saddens me is just how many people who are here, enjoying all of these opportunities (or choosing not to), are so intent on expressing their hatred of it. But what's always more telling than words, as we all know, is action.
These people aren't leaving. When was the last time you heard of a boat full of people drowning en route to Cuba? Illegal (non-criminal) American immigrants in Mexico? People risking their lives and well-being and even their families to get from America to China? Never? Me either.
People stay here. They speak loudly with their actions that frankly, this place is a pretty damn nice place to live. Indeed, it's the nicest place on the planet to live. There is no better place.
You know what else we have the opportunity to do? Change things. We have the opportunity to make changes to everything under the sun and improve everything we see. We get to change out our leaders and get them to do what we want. I don't think there are very many other places in the world where this can be done quite as well as here.
Frankly, I'm impressed with this country. I still believe in it, in spite of it's flaws, in spite of it's weaknesses. I see that even though we frequently waste the opportunities which are so freely given to us by this great country, we still have ample left to go around.
It's a grand thing, isn't it?
--Wag--
Nowhere else on earth does it exist in such abundance. Look at Saudi Arabia. Rich with oil money to the extent the really don't have a clue what to do with it. At least, the people who have it. That means, the royal family and their people. They're rolling nicely. The average Saudi, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have a whole lot of it and more importantly than anything else, seems to have little opportunity to get any of it.
There's that word again. Opportunity. Look at Mexico. Same thing. Most of South and Central America. Cuba. China. Indonesia. With the exception of Europe, where is ample opportunity besides America? Even comparing Europe and the U.S., the opportunity you have in Europe is taxed to oblivion. Oh, wait. Don't forget about Canada but there again, you're taxed to death!
Only in the U.S do we have the wealth of opportunity so great WE don't really know what to do with it. Opportunity great and small. Opportunity far and wide. Opportunity for education, experience, wealth, leisure, social interaction with your chosen people. Opportunity exists for health, peace, prosperity, information, religion . . . . Even the opportunity to say how much you love it here. Or hate it here.
What saddens me is just how many people who are here, enjoying all of these opportunities (or choosing not to), are so intent on expressing their hatred of it. But what's always more telling than words, as we all know, is action.
These people aren't leaving. When was the last time you heard of a boat full of people drowning en route to Cuba? Illegal (non-criminal) American immigrants in Mexico? People risking their lives and well-being and even their families to get from America to China? Never? Me either.
People stay here. They speak loudly with their actions that frankly, this place is a pretty damn nice place to live. Indeed, it's the nicest place on the planet to live. There is no better place.
You know what else we have the opportunity to do? Change things. We have the opportunity to make changes to everything under the sun and improve everything we see. We get to change out our leaders and get them to do what we want. I don't think there are very many other places in the world where this can be done quite as well as here.
Frankly, I'm impressed with this country. I still believe in it, in spite of it's flaws, in spite of it's weaknesses. I see that even though we frequently waste the opportunities which are so freely given to us by this great country, we still have ample left to go around.
It's a grand thing, isn't it?
--Wag--
Friday, July 04, 2008
Writer's Block
Thank gawd I don't make my living as a writer. I've had a bad bout of writer's block lately. For the last couple of years, eh? Mostly, I can't decide if I want to be funny, which is difficult enough as it is, or if I want to be serious.
My wife told me the other day, "You're funny!"
I responded, "Yeah, but looks aren't everything!"
Ba dum dum.
Commentary is good but all too often, I feel like I'm just reinventing the wheel. I mean, just how many more opinions do we need about global warming, the pending political elections, religion, the crappy economy, etc. We do NOT need another movie reviewer on line, that's for sure.
Funny and sad at the same time: The other day, I bought two new stocks. They both tanked within 5 minutes of being bought. It's as if the other people who owned them were just waiting for me to buy and then all together, they all sold off all at once. I didn't lose a LOT of value but definitely an instantaneous loss.
THAT is a sucky economy. A recession is when your co-worker gets laid off. A depression is when YOU get laid off. Anyone know who originally said that?
Jeez. I'm writing about the economy without prior warning. My apologies. That's what I get for writing at 3:30 am.
I should just go surf for some porn but even that is boring any more. At least it doesn't require conscious thought.
Or just go back to sleep.
G'nite.
--Wag--
My wife told me the other day, "You're funny!"
I responded, "Yeah, but looks aren't everything!"
Ba dum dum.
Commentary is good but all too often, I feel like I'm just reinventing the wheel. I mean, just how many more opinions do we need about global warming, the pending political elections, religion, the crappy economy, etc. We do NOT need another movie reviewer on line, that's for sure.
Funny and sad at the same time: The other day, I bought two new stocks. They both tanked within 5 minutes of being bought. It's as if the other people who owned them were just waiting for me to buy and then all together, they all sold off all at once. I didn't lose a LOT of value but definitely an instantaneous loss.
THAT is a sucky economy. A recession is when your co-worker gets laid off. A depression is when YOU get laid off. Anyone know who originally said that?
Jeez. I'm writing about the economy without prior warning. My apologies. That's what I get for writing at 3:30 am.
I should just go surf for some porn but even that is boring any more. At least it doesn't require conscious thought.
Or just go back to sleep.
G'nite.
--Wag--
Thursday, July 03, 2008
How to attract hot chicks
Posted this elsewhere recently but thought it would fit in well here.
True story which has happened to me on more than a couple of occasions. Details have been changed to protect the innocent.
Scenario is, I'm sitting in my office as I generally do at my job. Nobody has bothered me all day. I'm getting a trainload of work done. 4:00 rolls around and I'm doing well.
All of a sudden, I have to fart, but I'm doing well so I don't want to get up to go outside. Lean over and tear off an SBD. It's a rank mutha, too.
Almost like there was a director in a crappy comedy movie making this production, the hot chick from marketing walks in and needs to discuss something that A) could have waited till next month to give the air time to clear or B) it's too damn late for the discussion to do any damn good at all. It's worth mentioning that marketing personnel ALWAYS call me on the phone for such discussions because their building is a half mile or so away from ours.
In the meantime, the SBD continues to scream its presence. There is no way you could miss it. She doesn't say a thing and keeps a straight face. I work hard to extend the discussion as long as possible both because she has great hooters but also because I shouldn't have to suffer with the fumes all by myself.
Sooooo, since this happens over and over again I can only assume that farts attract hot chicks. In fact, I'm beginning to hypothesize that farts can actually breach time and space and teleport hot chicks right to your side. Further testing is required.
Try it some time! Keep some Febreze nearby.
--Wag--
True story which has happened to me on more than a couple of occasions. Details have been changed to protect the innocent.
Scenario is, I'm sitting in my office as I generally do at my job. Nobody has bothered me all day. I'm getting a trainload of work done. 4:00 rolls around and I'm doing well.
All of a sudden, I have to fart, but I'm doing well so I don't want to get up to go outside. Lean over and tear off an SBD. It's a rank mutha, too.
Almost like there was a director in a crappy comedy movie making this production, the hot chick from marketing walks in and needs to discuss something that A) could have waited till next month to give the air time to clear or B) it's too damn late for the discussion to do any damn good at all. It's worth mentioning that marketing personnel ALWAYS call me on the phone for such discussions because their building is a half mile or so away from ours.
In the meantime, the SBD continues to scream its presence. There is no way you could miss it. She doesn't say a thing and keeps a straight face. I work hard to extend the discussion as long as possible both because she has great hooters but also because I shouldn't have to suffer with the fumes all by myself.
Sooooo, since this happens over and over again I can only assume that farts attract hot chicks. In fact, I'm beginning to hypothesize that farts can actually breach time and space and teleport hot chicks right to your side. Further testing is required.
Try it some time! Keep some Febreze nearby.
--Wag--
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