Four Shadows Redux

I walked to Kawaikui Beach Park this morning at 7:15am with my Palm® Tx (in music player mode). I really had no idea why I went there. Perhaps the residual of another sleepless night was the reason. I meandered around the park. There were various people who were sitting around and smoking cigarettes. I experienced several good whiffs of second-hand smoke, even though I was well over 100 feet away. I also confirmed that Pete, the pipe-smoking homeless guy, is no longer residing in the park.

I was on my way to Hawai'i Kai at 8:50am in my Nissan® Frontier truck. Moms was home when I arrived. I was surprised to discover that my nephew has returned to school already. When I was a kid many moons ago, I did not go back to school in Fall until September. Moms and I only made the rounds at Koko Marina. For lunch, I retrieved a Beef Curry plate lunch from Loco Moco. Moms purchased a variety of sushi from Kozo Sushi. We brought everything back to the house to eat. Afterward, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I kept moms company until 2pm.

I was immediately able to find shaded parking when I drove back to Koko Marina. So, I followed the usual routine which finally brought me back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) at 5pm. Another urban nomad kind-of-an-evening awaits me.

Last night, I finally sent e-mail to Capital Pacific Group with a few questions about the alleged forgotten assets. I received a reply today. From what I can tell, the operation is legitimate. It has an "A+" rating from the Sacramento Better Business Bureau®. The assets in question are apparently from stock that was purchased back by Heritage Oaks Bank along with dividends and so forth. From what I can gather, the firm has already contacted Susan, the other party. The assets were liquidated in the year 2000 and were not deliverable because there was no current address on record for either of us. Thus, the original stock certificate of 27 years ago is now invalid. So, I am still listed as a joint tenant. I will most likely proceed with the claim.

Squandered Life (Reprise)

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day was besieged by the "existential vacuum." Jared Diamond's book, "Collapse," has certainly been an eye-opening read. Diamond's descriptions are so vivid that I could actually imagine almost myself in the societies that he describes. Humanity has certainly been through myriad trials and tribulations, mostly the result of human stupidity of one kind or another.

I also noted that apparently all ancient societies had some religious dimension, whether there be priests, temples, or monarchs claiming a relationship with the pantheon of available deities. What is the origin of religiosity? Surely there must be a reason aside from the wild imagination of humans.

I ran into Bill, a former Asylum faculty member, in the locker room at the gym as I was exiting. He's taking advantage of the one-week trial membership. I only chatted with him briefly. He has been emancipated from wage slavery a lot longer than me. I have no idea how he survives, but he must have a lot of money stashed away. We'll probably run into each other again.

It's getting to be much more difficult for me to deny that I am simply wasting my life away while also living in an intolerable situation. With the debunking of the religious myth, I am now keenly aware that I only have one life to live. in addition, I have already squandered most of my "good years" doing absolutely nothing of value. Although I can still claim that I am working toward the exodus, I have yet to figure out my exit destination. I still dream of visiting the "Cradle of Civilization" or some other ancient sites. Although I abhor humanity, I am still curious about its origins.

No Change

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day was essentially a mirror of yesterday. I am continuing to read, "Collapse," by Jared Diamond. The book is quite incredible. In fact, I am ready to proclaim it to be a book of real prophecy.

Humanity is facing its own self-destruction. There's no stopping it. Most people have deluded themselves into believing that we have the technology, knowledge, and willpower to save humanity. We just need to make the right decisions. Is that laughable, or what? I believe that we are already past the "point of no return." We are on a collision course with Peak Oil and global climate change. Our real problem, though, has always been overpopulation. Yes, the technology and knowledge has been in place for a while, but there has been no willpower to exact any meaningful change. Only when the time is too late will there be any change.

Plain Ol' Stupidity

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day was a showcase for rude asswipes. Is the full moon out? Are biorhythms going berserk? What is causing the epidemic of human stupidity? I could blame it all on Satan ... never mind.

I have barely come to grips with the fact that the God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is a figment of the imagination of a small handful of ancient psychotic priest-prophets. No doubt, they were caught up in their own inability to understand why the Creator had essentially abandoned humanity. The problem, of course, was that the priest-prophets had conjured up a deity in the image of humans. Little is known about the actual Creator because the first oral tradition is long lost.

I can venture to guess that the real Creator is nothing similar to God. The God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is said to be omnipotent and is able to transcend time. God can "see" into the future because He is timeless. The reality is quite different. The physical universe lies somewhere in the infinite void of deep space. Time and distance only exists when measured within the constraints of the physical universe. However, in terms of the infinite void, both time and distance reduce to infinitesimally small units, too small to measure. However, I do not believe that the Creator developed the laws of physics (and time) with a built-in "back door" to circumvent such laws. In other words, the Creator cannot "see" into the future anymore than we can. Does that make the Creator any less omnipotent? No.

What may be disheartening to most people, especially the deeply religious ones, is that the Creator made us exactly the way we were supposed to be. There was no eating of the forbidden fruit, no "original sin," and no eternal damnation. We are living out the history of the most unusual creation on the planet. In the end, we will probably destroy ourselves and much of the planet's lifeforms. However, thousands of years after our extinction, most of the planet's indigenous lifeforms will return. Perhaps the Creator will replace us with an improved version of humans.

On a side note, I have commenced reading the book, "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," by Jared Diamond at the library. Hence, my new research will heading in an "eclectic" direction.

I have observed that Pete, the pipe-smoking homeless guy, is no longer residing at Kawaikui Beach Park. He has been conspicuously absent for at least two days. I have not walked to the park, but I have been able to discern from the bus stop across the street that all of his worldly possessions are gone. Nothing is hanging from the tree that is adjacent to his formerly staked-out concrete picnic table.

Back at Slob Manor (read: rental housing), the Indian guy has been slamming his door all night long like a spoiled kid throwing a tantrum. Frankly, I really can't stand the asswipe. He's a pompous turd, which is indicative of the British Raj influence. Even Alan, the guy downstairs, said, "He's really into himself." That's true. He seems to want to call attention to himself, but no one bothers. In fact, Alan does not want the Indian guy to move downstairs.

Alas, the "blog" does serve a purpose. It is a witness and testimony to the failings of humanity. From my squalid room, I make observations of the microcosm that essentially mirror the macrocosm. What happens in my small world is a snapshot of the so-called "big picture." We can see why humanity is "heading to hell in a handbasket." What I once called the epidemic of the "seven sins" is, in reality, plain ol' stupidity and hubris.

Four Shadows

Another visit to Hawai'i Kai has come and gone. Moms and I made the usual rounds. We ate lunch at Zippy's. Later, moms served Foremost® coffee and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. The itinerary for the remainder of the day was the same as usual.

When I returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing), I was surprised to see the landlord doing yardwork. I was able to chat briefly with the landlord. She confirmed that the Chinaman has moved out. The UH student will be moving out at the end of the month. No new tenants are scheduled to move in. The landlord's latest brainchild is that she may move both the Indian guy and I downstairs into the two vacant rooms and rent the entire second floor to a couple. I have no objection to the idea.

By the way, Chris Hedges penned another fantastic article on the Truthdig site. Here's an excerpt:

Those who fail to exhibit positive attitudes, no matter the external reality, are seen as maladjusted and in need of assistance. Their attitudes need correction. Once we adopt an upbeat vision of reality, positive things will happen. This belief encourages us to flee from reality when reality does not elicit positive feelings. These specialists in "happiness" have formulated something they call the "Law of Attraction." It argues that we attract those things in life, whether it is money, relationships or employment, which we focus on. Suddenly, abused and battered wives or children, the unemployed, the depressed and mentally ill, the illiterate, the lonely, those grieving for lost loved ones, those crushed by poverty, the terminally ill, those fighting with addictions, those suffering from trauma, those trapped in menial and poorly paid jobs, those whose homes are in foreclosure or who are filing for bankruptcy because they cannot pay their medical bills, are to blame for their negativity. The ideology justifies the cruelty of unfettered capitalism, shifting the blame from the power elite to those they oppress. And many of us have internalized this pernicious message, which in times of difficulty leads to personal despair, passivity and disillusionment.

The article is titled, "Happiness Consultants Won’t Stop a Depression," and definitely worthy of a read.

Chokey da Chicken (Reprise)

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-Sunday ... same as last Sunday, with the exception that I was able to procure a delicious Yakitori Bento at Foodland in Ala Moana. Otherwise, the day was essentially blasé. Who knew, eh? My gym workout went well at a leisurely pace. My return trip back to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) on the bus was not hampered by stupidity. Once back in my squalid room, I performed the dreaded laundry chores. Then, I piddled around for the rest of the afternoon in anticipation of another urban nomad kind-of-evening.

I received another letter from Capital Pacific Group. The latest correspondence indicated that there is allegedly more unclaimed money available. So, the grand total now comes to $14,856 and some change. We are starting to talk about real money here, especially for a destitute peon like myself. I will most likely contact the firm for more information, although an overzealous agent included a printed contract. Mind you, the firm appears to be legitimate.

There is a chicken living in the back yard of Slob Manor. I have no idea how it ended up there. I heard it making clucking noises a couple of weeks ago. That's when I first espied it in the yard. This morning, the chicken was roaming around quietly. It uses its clawed feet to scratch the ground. Then, it pecks away at whatever it finds edible. I watched the bird intently. The chicken is, of course, one of few birds that cannot fly. What a curious creature. Sadly, I thought about the chicken while I devoured my Yakitori Bento, which is a chicken dish.

Well, according to the Feedjit® Live Feed, the "blog" is still only popular with searchers of pictures of scantily clad hotties. What a joke!

Double Jeopardy

Another urban nomad kind-of-a-day has recovered, just like the economy. Yes, the recession is over according to Newsweek. The stock market is rallying, and the Dow will be hitting 30,000 soon! So, why am I getting poorer and poorer?

At the library, I completed the reading of Kirsch's book, "A History of the End of the World." The last two chapters were quite interesting, by the way. Then, I performed my usual workout at the gym. Incidentally, the gym has an on-line magazine, You24®, that may be of interest to a select few.

Contrary to my word, I perused the religious literature that moms passed to me. It's very easy to get caught up with that kind of literature because the words are so soothing. The allure, of course, is the hope for a better life once God (of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) takes action and brings justice to an evil world allegedly controlled by Satan. In fact, a casual readers would most likely neglect to refer to the Good Book for verification or clarification. There are a lot of embellishments in religious literature, most of which have no Biblical basis. And, with the credibility of the Good Book already being marginal, that's "double jeopardy."

Escape from Freedom (Reprise)

As to be expected, my Nissan® Frontier truck and I found ourselves in Hawai'i Kai for the day. Moms and I only made the rounds in Koko Marina. For lunch, moms served lamp-baked chicken, grilled salmon steak, ahi sashimi, fresh vegetables, and rice. For dessert, moms served Foremost® coffee ice cream. I kept moms company until 1:30pm. Then, I was on my way back to Koko Marina. I found shaded parking immediately, walked to the gym, performed my usual workout, shopped at Foodland, and returned to Slob Manor (read: rental housing) to engage in an urban nomad kind-of-an-evening.

From what I can gather, the Chinaman officially moved out two days ago. The Indian guy has been keeping some very strange hours, coincident with the purchase of his new wheels. He now leaves very early in the morning, sometimes at 5am. Then, he returns late, often after midnight. Has he found a babe? Or, is he doing some extreme trolling? Let's hope so.

Moms gave me a few pieces of religious literature to read. I also noticed that moms is also leaving the same literature around the house, which could incur the wrath of my bro. Since I have come into the real "truth" about religion, I have had little desire to read any religious propaganda. The fact of the matter is quite simple: the prophesies in the Good Book never came to fruition, so the churches are attempting to reinterpret the Scriptures. In actuality, all they do is keep pushing the dates of the prophesies into the future. What most people do not realize is that the charade has been going on for 1,900 years. Sheesh!

I am still continuing with my policy of divestiture, albeit in slow motion. I deleted a huge archives of "higher education" (i.e., pre-doctoral) research, which essentially was a joke. I had it stored on my trusty USB flash drive. Now, it's gone. Who cares? For me, divestiture of useless crap, the mendicant life, and the exodus comprise reality. Although I have previously called myself a mendicant monk, I must now revoke that description (at least its religious implication). The ascetic life-style is not a precursor to spirituality. Rather, asceticism is a matter of practicality. And, hopefully, it will open the door to freedom ... freedom from slavery ... freedom from stupidity.

Clean Slate

I performed the dreaded laundry chores at 7:15am this morning. Then, I embarked on another urban nomad kind-of-a-day. As to be expected, nothing out of the ordinary transpired.

I am now at quite a loss about my own future. What exactly is my purpose on this planet? Since seeking spirituality is the epitome of absurdity, what is left? In the 7,000 years or so that we humans have existed, we have buried our true purpose under a thick veneer of superficial crap. We have added layer upon layer of nonsense that has only added to the confusion over time. Now, we are locked into a "survival of the fittest" mentality while the various farcical religions serve as the primary vent for the pressures created by the latter. How can any sane person fathom such insanity?

Heck, rampant materialism may be our only defined purpose. After all, unlike animals, we humans have external material needs which dictate our survival. We live in a microcosm of the physical universe. Thus, every activity of our being takes on a tangible form. We believe that our minds are able to transcend the physical realm, but that's nonsense. All we can do is conjure up fictitious deities and idiotic dogma (derived from the fictitious deities). We come up with rituals for purification, criteria for holiness, and moral/law codes which seemingly have basis in schizophrenia.

We can do nothing about the lack of justice in a "survival of the fittest" environment. Justice is a human fallacy. Everything in the physical universe has a beginning and an end. In between, there is gradual decay. For us, the process is called mortality. We cry out for justice, but the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam does not answer. Neither does the Creator. That should tell us something. The only justice comes at the end when the slate is wiped clean.

Disconnection Redux

Oh, another urban nomad kind-of-a-day has slipped away. The itinerary was the same (sans day recognition crisis). At the library, I continued to read Kirsch's book, "A History of the End of the World." There's a lot of interesting stuff discussed in the book, all of which augments my now-closed religious research.

Needless to say, I am still in a state of total confusion and bewilderment concerning the farce known as religion. What is its allure? I suppose that there have always been people who have yearned for a "just" society. Religion was a means to impose morality and laws upon unrestrained humans in order to attain social justice. Yet, why the need to attribute the origin of morality to a deity?

What has become apparent to me is that humans were never endowed with any specific laws of conduct or code of morality per se. We were given a wide range of emotions and feelings which were, in theory, to be moderated by our intelligence and sentience. In other words, we were blessed (or cursed) with the ultimate form of "free will." Obviously, such a concept goes against the the grain of Universal Law. Well, perhaps our determination of the laws of self-governance in the microcosm has little impact on the universe.

Sadly, there has been very little justice dispensed during the human tenure. In the long run, justice is always usurped by the controlling elite. Hence, those people at the short end of justice will seek desperate measures for compensation, the advent of religion being one avenue. The human experience has always been devoid of justice, and not always because of our own doing. That brings me back to a thought of a few weeks ago. We humans are not very special in the creation. We are apparently only a slightly higher form of animal. Our sole purpose may be to satisfy the Creator's curiosity. Certainly, we will not transcend the creation/destruction cycle of the physical universe.

The casual reader may wonder why I continue to accept creation as the point of origin for humans. As I have explained before, there is no other way that humans could feasibly come into existence. No ape or chimpanzee could have nurtured, fed, clothed, and sheltered the original humans. One look at our naked selves, and we can readily observe how vulnerable we are. Other life forms on the planet do not need clothes, shoes, toilet paper, enclosed shelters, and so forth in order to survive. We are a very odd species of life.

I could only rely upon conjecture to postulate the circumstances of the creation of humans. I will leave that topic for another day. However, I firmly believe that the original humans had to nurtured, protected, and trained by the Creator. There is no possible way that the species would have survived long enough to procreate otherwise. In such a case, there had to be an oral tradition. I am now convinced that the oral tradition is long gone, perhaps hidden in the various myths and legends (including religious dogma) over the aeons. I am not certain if the Creator provided any basic laws for self-governance. The idea seems to be contrary to the concept of "free will."

Take the matter of incest, for example. The act of incest is forbidden in most societies, yet it had to be acceptable during the early days of humans. In effect, if incest was forbidden, the human species could not procreate. When and how was incest finally made taboo? We can probably dissect most humans laws and customs in the same fashion. Without God (of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), we are devoid of a true moral compass. Then, too, without any moral code, there would be no "sin." What is right and wrong? What is "good" and "evil"?

I have yet to fully accept my mortality. What I mean by "mortality" is that there is no existence of the soul beyond the short tenure on the planet. There is no religious resurrection of any kind. Thus, there is no hope. People who are attached to religious beliefs are investing in the hope of some kind of eternal life. With religion being the farce that it is, there is no eternal life for any of us. Perhaps that is why justice has never been "built in" to society. Justice is simply a human rationalization based upon the hope of eternal life as a reward.

Well, I have kind of prematurely betrayed the concealment of the path of my future research. I don't have much time left on the planet, so I must expedite my cause. I cannot say that I will make major changes in my life. I am certainly will not be going "hog wild" to catch up with lost time. No amount of experiences will change the outcome. I will not be taking any experiences with me in the end, will I? I have also given up on "spirituality." There is no purpose in seeking the "spirit" when it either does not exist or is around for only a very short time. My sole goal is to understand the human experience, putting an emphasis on what is of exceptional value. Nothing more, nothing less.