Origins (Reprise)

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day commenced with a slammin' soirée at 5am courtesy the Indian guy. He's been keeping strange hours ever since he acquired his BMW® Z4. Well, that's the disadvantage of living in squalid circumstances at a dump like Slob Manor (read: rental housing). Aside from that, nothing out of the ordinary transpired throughout the day.

Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening was disturbed by yet another slammin' soirée courtesy the Indian guy. In addition, he took a second extremely noisy shower, banging his shit against the wall over and over again just like he did at 5am this morning. The filthy bathroom is between our rooms on the second floor. And, I am not sure why he must go in and out of his room up to ten times or more in succession, each time slamming the door. Of course, I have witnessed him pacing around like a trapped wild animal in the second floor common area for no apparent reason.

At the library, I completed reading the book, "Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls," by Norman Golb. The second to last chapter was the most interesting. I have also mummified the reading of Lawrence Schiffman's book. In addition, I have located two books by John Allegro. So, I will probably wrap up my research about the Dead Sea Scrolls after perusing them.

I have continued to ruminate about the origin of life, specifically that of humanity, without reliance on the account in the Good Book. I cannot even begin to ascertain where human life originated. Evolutionists believe that humans appeared first in Africa, no doubt because of the large number of monkeys, apes, baboons, and gorillas that reside in the region. From human migration patterns, however, the Mesopotamian area appears to be a logical choice. I have previously discussed that, given the fragile nature of humans, the Creator would have had to protect and nurture the first humans in order to assure that the species would survive.

Given the amazing faculties possessed by humans, I tend to believe that less than a thousand years would have been necessary for the latter to develop a written language. I can assume that several generations could have survived with an oral tradition alone. Subsequently, a written language had to be imperative. Thus, I do not believe that humans were around longer than 6,000 years ago, or 7,000 years maximum. Whatever connection that we had with the Creator was lost with the original oral tradition. The latter thesis makes sense given human social progression. As human clans eventually metamorphosed into kingdoms, the kings and emperors began to envision themselves as gods or of possessing superhuman powers. Self-appointed priests and prophets also conjured up fictitious gods and deities. Since the Creator left us to our own devices, the oral tradition was soon replaced by what we can generally describe as myths and legends.

Incidentally, I have wondering about the allegedly high savings rate being quoted by various "talking heads." The idea that "Americans" are now saving 6.9 percent of income did not make sense to me given the high unemployment rate and the ensuing real estate fiasco. I had assumed that the affluent class was doing all of the saving using their ill-gotten gains. Michael Hudson has cleared up the perception problem:

Happy-face media reporting of economic news is providing the usual upbeat spin on Friday's debt-deflation statistics. The Commerce Department's National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) for May show that U.S. "savings" are now absorbing 6.9 percent of income.

I put the word "savings" in quotation marks because this 6.9 per cent is not what most people think of as savings. It is not money in the bank to draw out in rainy-day emergencies like losing one's job, as thousands are every day. The statistic means that 6.9 per cent of national income is being earmarked to pay down debt – the highest savings rate in 15 years, up from actually negative rates (living on borrowed credit) just a few years ago. The only way in which these savings are "money in the bank" is that they are being paid by consumers to their banks and credit card companies.

Very interesting. The article is titled, "Debt Deflation Arrives," and it appeared on the Counterpunch site.

Culture of Empire

"The ability of the corporate state to pacify the country by extending credit and providing cheap manufactured goods to the masses is gone. The pernicious idea that democracy lies in the choice between competing brands and the freedom to accumulate vast sums of personal wealth at the expense of others has collapsed. The conflation of freedom with the free market has been exposed as a sham. The travails of the poor are rapidly becoming the travails of the middle class, especially as unemployment insurance runs out and people get a taste of Bill Clinton’s draconian welfare reform. And class warfare, once buried under the happy illusion that we were all going to enter an age of prosperity with unfettered capitalism, is returning with a vengeance." -- Chris Hedges (Truthdig site)

Once again, my Nissan® Frontier truck and I spent the day in Hawai'i Kai. The itinerary was the same, with the exception that moms and I ate lunch at Zippy's. When all was said and done, I found myself back in my squalid room at Slob Manor (read: rental housing).

I spent most of my day in pain. For some reason, I woke up this morning with a stiff neck. Later, I realized that my neck was both stiff and hurting. I had trouble moving my right arm through a full range of motion, thanks to the pain. I am surprised that I endured my entire workout at the gym, although any weight regimen is optional on Monday. The "condotel" unit was $430 short of breaking even last month. As I predicted, the losses will increase until I am essentially absorbing the full cost of the unit without even living there. Surprisingly, the unit had 100 percent occupancy last month. Aqua Resorts, the hotel management, has opted to lower room rates way below optimal (i.e., "break even") in order to fill rooms. Other Waikiki hotels are at 60 percent or less occupancy. The truth, if I may be so bold, is that the management would be far more wise to keep the room rates closer to optimal and accept the lower occupancy. I can say that because my unit is one of the two floor of units that always fills regardless. Obviously, the owners of units on those two floors are subsidizing the rest of the hotel.

Aqua management has also been quite liberal at charging the owners for "repairs" in the units. I had previously thought that the dubious "upgrade fee" (deducted monthly) would cover such costs. I later discovered that the owners are directly charged at exorbitant "retail" prices. In fact, I must now revise three months of financial data in the "blog" as a result. Alas, that's the beauty of the "ownership" society ... just one rip-off after another.

If anyone is wondering whether Foodland is my preferred grocery store, the answer is a resounding "no." I only shop there because of the convenience (since the gym is in Koko Marina). Foodland is a more local-style operation. However, do not be fooled. With the exception of about three employees, I find that customer relations is really lacking in courtesy and professionalism. The majority of the employees are extremely unfriendly. Attempting to get assistance is often met with an implicit hostility. Employees also seem to lack knowledge of current promotions and policies. The prices are extremely high, too. To add insult to injury, I have been overcharged on top that because of erroneous scan tags. By the way, Safeway® is not much better. Don't look for the "Aloha Spirit" at either establishments.

Whatever happened to the Aloha Spirit? Or, better yet, what happened to humanity? Well, I believe that Chris Hedges (from the same article as the quote above) generically described the phenomenon best:

American culture — or cultures, for we once had distinct regional cultures — was systematically destroyed in the 20th century by corporations. These corporations used mass communication, as well as an understanding of the human subconscious, to turn consumption into an inner compulsion. Old values of thrift, regional identity that had its own iconography, aesthetic expression and history, diverse immigrant traditions, self-sufficiency, a press that was decentralized to provide citizens with a voice in their communities were all destroyed to create mass, corporate culture. New desires and habits were implanted by corporate advertisers to replace the old. Individual frustrations and discontents could be solved, corporate culture assured us, through the wonders of consumerism and cultural homogenization. American culture, or cultures, was replaced with junk culture and junk politics. And now, standing on the ash heap, we survey the ruins. The very slogans of advertising and mass culture have become the idiom of common expression, robbing us of the language to make sense of the destruction. We confuse the manufactured commodity culture with American culture.

I'll go one step further by stating that regional cultures were replaced by the evil and dubious singular culture of empire.

Morsels & Tidbits

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday ... yes, exactly the same as last Sunday and the Sunday before that. Can you even believe it? Lately, I have been riding the Route 56 bus to Ala Moana Center after my Sunday workout at the gym. Once there, I have about 15 minutes to shop at Foodland before boarding the Route 24 bus to Aina Haina. From there, I transfer to the Route 1 bus. The bus ride sounds laborious, but it is actually relaxing. None of the buses are crowded. The Route 24 bus cruises through Waikiki, but it seldom fills up since none of the tourists recognize the "Upper Aina Haina" destination.

While I was at Ala Moana Center, I can testify that I did not witness anything that resembled a recession. The whole place was jam-packed with satanic gargoyles, all of whom were spending money like there's no tomorrow. When the bus passed by Kahala Mall, I observed that the entire parking lot was completely full. People apparently have a lot more money than I thought. Where are they getting all that money?

Incidentally, I chatted with the Indian guy this morning before I left for town. I complimented him on his new car. He disclosed that it is actually five years old. The BMW® Z4 must have had personalized license plates before, which would explain why the plate number sequence is relatively new. So, he apparently got a good deal on the price. In addition, he said that his insurance is only $40 more per year.

I received a strange piece of mail from Capital Pacific Group, alleged "Asset Recovery Specialists." There is some amount of money being held by the State of California Unclaimed Property Division having to do with common stock held in Heritage Oaks Bank. My long ago ex-babe, Susan, and I purchased common stock in the bank when it was first opening. When we parted ways, I gave her possession of the stock certificate and signed over my rights. I am not at all certain why there is unclaimed property since the stock is obviously still valid. The bank has actually done quite well. My only guess is that dividends were paid out, but the distribution checks were returned to sender.

I have attempted a minor Web search for Susan. From what I gather, she and Dick, her husband, live in either Vallejo or Camino (both in Northern Cali). They apparently raise dogs as a hobby. They used to live in LA, or that's the last place that I have known them to reside. I suspect that anyone searching for her has not been able to find much. By the way, I had included more about her in the old journal.

In the last few days, I have continued to ruminate about why I continue to live as an outcast of society. Why am I not out there like the rest of the satanic gargoyles? Why didn't I find a good career and work my ass of to become affluent and successful? Why am I not seeking out babes? Why didn't I get married and have kids? I attempted, albeit in half-ass fashion, to follow the "traditional" route, but I just couldn't "make the grade." I am not even sure why I enjoy living in poverty and looking as pathetic as possible. Certainly, there is almost no valid reason to live modestly as recommended by the Good Book since the authenticity of the latter is highly questionable.

Plastic Bags

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day ... another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening. What happened in between? Can you say, "Same ol' shit"? Yes, over two years have elapsed since my emancipation from wage slavery, yet there is absolutely nothing worthy of mention. Thus, I have resorted to reporting about "tidbits" (i.e., essentially useless information).

Divestiture of my useless possession is slowly gaining speed, with an emphasis on the adverb "slowly." I have also steadfastly maintained the moratorium on any new purchases of crap. Being poor and on the verge of homelessness has been the best impetus so far. Consumables are also being drawn down in order to convert to JIT (read: "just-in-time") inventorying.

The nine (or more) plastic shopping bags full of crap which are lying around my squalid room is what really drives me insane. I must wrap everything in plastic bags, much the same way that the homeless put everything into plastic bags and hang them along the perimeter of their shopping carts (i.e., mobile homes). Of course, I find the latter insanity to be prevalent in Hawai'i. In the gym, I've seen guys unpack their gym bags full of stuff wrapped in plastic bags. Naturally, I do the same thing.

Squalid Tidbits

I was on my way to Hawai'i Kai in my Nissan® Frontier truck at 8:40am this morning. Moms was home when I arrived. Moms and I only visited Foodland in Koko Marina. For lunch, moms served lamp-baked chicken, grilled salmon fillet, tofu, kim chee, fresh vegetables, and rice. For dessert, moms served Foremost® coffee ice cream.

I kept moms company until 1:30pm. Then, I was off to fulfill the urban nomad routine. I drove back to Koko Marina, found shaded parking, walked to the gym, performed my usual workout at a leisurely pace, took a long shower, shopped at Foodland, and finally returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing). The evening? An urban nomad kind-of-an-evening? Sheesh!

There isn't much to comment about. Petrol prices are rising, with the lowest octane now at $3.08 per gallon. I have also observed that the quality of clothing has gone downhill. I have had to use my small sewing kit to repair most of my urban nomad clothing. The seams are sewn together so poorly that the stitches come apart within two weeks. Well, that's life in the empire, eh?

Questions

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day brought nothing new to reveal. Yesterday, I neglected to mention that I am accepting Norman Golb's thesis (from Golb's book titled, "Who Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?") that the Dead Sea Scrolls were probably brought out of Jerusalem and hidden in various caves along the Dead Sea in an attempt to protect them prior to the Roman siege. I am also beginning to suspect that there was no Dead Sea Scrolls sect (for lack of a better term) per se.

I am also beginning to understand that there has never really been a true "fear of God" in all of human history. For example, the myriad scribes and priest-prophets took great liberty at adding, editing, and redacting Scriptures. In addition, there are countless document forgeries and Scripture-like embellishments. Obviously, no one involved expected to be struck down by the Almighty for such debauchery. That should tell us something.

Although I will be continuing my religious research, possibly even beyond the Dead Sea Scrolls, I have also been ruminating about the revised framework of the human condition. Given the increasing probability that the God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam may not be the Creator, I can safely say that I am completely lost. Frankly, I don't know where to begin. There is no paradigm. There are apparently no answers. Perhaps that is at the root of the despair of Second Temple Judaism. The Israelites had followed the Law of Moses, even improved on it, but they were not to experience the "End of Days," when God's justice would be delivered. Can we even begin to imagine the disillusionment?

I am in the same state of disillusionment, and I cannot articulate my thoughts. Everything is a confused mess. I thought that I would approach the problem systematically and record my thoughts in the "blog." What exactly is there to say, though? All recorded history of humans is a just a potpourri of myths and legends? Any initial contact with the Creator is now oral tradition long lost? Where does that leave us?

Variable Constants

"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." -- Big Brother Empire

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day ... same ol' shit. My religious research continued at the library. I am still reading various books about the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, I am already inclined to agree with the renegade viewpoint that Christianity has its roots in the radical Judaism of the Intertestamental Period. I am further inclined to believe that the earliest form of Christianity (aka "The Way") was indeed one of the radical sects of Second Temple Judaism.

Christianity, however, assumed a new form with the Apostle Paul. Essentially, modern Christianity is "Pauline" Christianity. There were no canonized books at the time except for the Hebrew Scriptures (so-called "Old Testament"). In fact, Paul's letters were the earliest Christian writings, even preceding the so-called "Gospels." Pretty much the entire Christian doctrine revolves around the Pauline philosophy. Yet, Paul had never been a disciple under Jesus. Neither had he been one of the original apostles. His words, though, account for most of the Christian Greek Scriptures (so-called "New Testament").

The Dead Sea Scrolls are an anathema for both Christianity and Judaism. I've concentrated on Christianity so far, but the credibility of Judaism also comes into question. The Intertestimental Period gave birth to some radical forms of Judaism which included the broadening of the role of Satan, demons, angels, and Messianic expectations. Apocalyptic literature, expanding upon the strange visions of Daniel, began to proliferate. There is almost no question that the Christian book of Revelation was inspired by Judaic apocalyticism. Obviously, the volatile times, with the impending siege by the Roman Empire, provided the impetus for radical Judaic thought. Of course, what it all boils down to is that the Almighty allegedly abandoned His people (as per the various covenant relationships). Or, there really were no covenants in effect. The thesis that the prophetic portion of the Hebrew Scriptures was a fabrication of the priest-prophets during the Babylonian exile and "Diaspora" seems to be gaining credence.

Obviously, had all of the preceding information been taken seriously, there would have been a collapse of the three main world religions (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, Islam), We would have to rethink the concepts of "free will," "good," and "evil." Our role and purpose as human beings would become undefined. And, there would be no answer to the question, "Why are we here?" What we are looking at is a major existential and metaphysical crisis, to say the least. Where we go from here, I do not know.

Well, according to the Feedjit® Live Feed, the majority of visitors to the "blog" are in search of babe images, particularly that of Lindsay Meadows. Good news! Baby is planning to come out of retirement soon!

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Again)

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day ... nothing new to report. The only deviation from my boring itinerary was the restoration of my monk haircut at the Institute of Hair Design. by the way, I have definitely kept up the cardio portion of my workout at the gym. So far, I have only experienced a handful of heart palpitations since the start of the increased cardio regimen.

I am beginning to understand why I have been more adamant about the divestiture of my useless possessions. Aside from the possibility of the empire's economic collapse and my subsequent foray into homelessness, I am more or less motivated through "shock therapy" by the rampant materialism of my bro and his family. Even moms comments about the amount of crap that is tucked into every nook and cranny in the house. I've seen it for myself, and that's probably what gave me the "willies." Of course, moms gave my sister-in-law $5,000 in cash recently. Now, moms wonders if the money was spent unwisely. Is the sky blue? Is the hottie gym trainer a hottie?

Note: The clowns at Yahoo! have decided to close down Geocities sometime this year. So, one of the LoserNet mirror sites will be going down. There will be no warning. The site will simply disappear one day. As far as I know, the Tripod site will still be functioning. Appropriate "blog" link revisions will be made in a timely fashion. If and when the Tripod site goes down, there will be no attempt to salvage old journal archives. However, I may decide to transfer the entire journal to Blogger®.

Collapse Statistics

The Indian guy was up at 6:30am this morning. He made the usual racket (read: slammin' soirée) that he always does. I thought that he had already left for work when I was up and around at 7:30am. However, I saw him sitting in his BMW® Z4 out in the driveway. When I was ready to depart for Hawai'i Kai at 8:50am, the Indian guy's new car was still in the driveway. However, he had moved it back about 15 feet. The Indian guy was nowhere in sight. I had a very difficult time maneuvering my Nissan® Frontier truck around his car. When I returned at 5pm, the BMW® Z4 was parked further in, but it was taking up part of the space where I park the truck. Mind you, my Nissan® Frontier truck is not small (even though it is tagged as "mid-size"). I had a very difficult time maneuvering around the shitty little car. My guess is that the Indian guy is sublimely attempting to force me to park back on the street. Sorry, Raj-buddy. Until I can find a spot that is assured of no vandalism, that's not going to happen.

Moms and I made the usual rounds in Hawai'i Kai ... you know the drill. We ate lunch at Panda Express® in the Hawai'i Kai Towne Center. We blessed with the presence of our two favorite ducks again. I did not attempt to feed the ducks any chili peppers. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee ice cream for dessert.

I kept moms company until 1:30pm. We discussed the now-defunct House of Lolo court case (i.e., Case of the Mangy Mutt). Moms had shown me the latest court documents about a week ago. There is only a form to request restitution. From what we could gather, moms will probably get back about $200 for "out of pocket" costs. Obviously the House of Lolo's mangy mutt will avoid the capital punishment that it deserves.

I drove directly to Koko Marina and was able to find shaded parking. I meandered across the street to the library for a few minutes. There really is nothing to do there because the Hawai'i Kai Branch is basically a joke. Later, I walked to the gym, performed my usual workout, shopped at Foodland, and returned to Slob Manor(read: rental housing) to encounter the parking ordeal and prepare for an urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.

Sadly, the urban nomad kind-of-an-evening is not the same without the Pure T 'n A site. The server upgrade is still in progress. That's three days now. In the meantime, the site has been reported as hosting malware. Now, my Web browser is inserting a warning page whenever I click anywhere on the site. Other members (using other operating systems) have reported that their anti-malware software goes crazy when the site is accessed. Since I am using Ubuntu Linux, I do not deploy any virus or malware detection software. Only the Web browser provides some indication of questionable activity.

[Collapse statistics deleted]

Collapse Dynamics

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday ... nothing special. Review the "blog" of last Sunday for an overview of the redundant itinerary. One wonders why the ol' lavahead must continue to report these morsels of nonsense in the daily "blog."

Back at Slob Manor (read: rental housing), the Indian guy pulled into the driveway at 4:30pm with a new-ish BMW® Z4 convertible. I was wondering why there was a bunch of crap lying around the second-floor common area when I returned to the dump this afternoon. Apparently, he had emptied out his old Toyota® RAV4 (which must have doubled as a storage unit). The BMW® already has license plates, so it is a used car. From what I can deduce, the car is about a year old. So, the Indian guy forked out about $40,000 (or more) for it. His motive? To "score chicks," I assume. Every time that I have chatted with him in the past, he has talked about chicks. Sad to say, I don't think that he knows what he's gotten himself into. His old Toyota® was pretty beat up, with most of the damage accumulating in the last year. Now, he has a $40,000 car which he needs to take care of. The guy cannot even clean the bathroom sink. He's got rotting food and crap lying around everywhere. Well, I suppose that he's got enough money to pay someone else to wash, wax, and clean his car. I am not even sure if he gave much thought concerning how he is going to transport all of his crap around. The lure of the babes is way too powerful for logical thinking.

Frankly, I think that most chicks would be more impressed if the Indian guy had purchased some real estate instead. Even a squalid little townhouse unit like Chez Loser II in Kane'ohe would be more impressive than a two-seater convertible. And, of course, one traffic accident will render the car useless. No more "babe magnet." As I said, the lure of the babes is way too powerful for logical thinking.

Well, here's something more interesting than the rampant materialism of a common fool - The Oil Drum Campfire discussion. The topic is: How Will Knowledge of Collapse Impact Collapse?

And, the latest Europe 2020 report is out. Here's an excerpt:

LEAP/E2020 believes that, instead of « green shoots » (those which international media, experts and the politicians who listen to them kept perceiving in every statistical chart in the past two months), what will appear on the horizon is a group of three destructive waves of the social and economic fabric expected to converge in the course of summer 2009, illustrating the aggravation of the crisis and entailing major changes by the end of summer 2009 ... more specifically, debt default events in the US and UK, both countries at the centre of the global system in crisis.

As you may recall, Europe 2020 has been fairly accurate in its predictions.