Revellian

Thoughts and Fiction of Bobby Revell

Archive for April, 2008

The Insanity of Stereotypes, Labels and Generalizations

Apr 29

Posted by Bobby Revell in Humor, politics, racism, thought

I was filling out a job application and couldn’t help but feel violated because of the detailed information required. I’m going for something much higher paying than I have now which is understandable because of the collapsing economy. One thing on my mind is how people are stereotyped, labeled and categorized in modern society. Like many places, this one had me sit down at a computer to fill it out the application; there was no person to talk to, just an impersonal machine.

The collection of demographic information makes me feel uncomfortable. They first ask you to check a square by your race. Am I African American, Caucasian, Latin American and so on. I’m wondering what difference does it make? It was incredibly detailed – even asking if I had a tattoo and if so, where on my body it was as a picture of it would need to be taken. They required a highly detailed 12 year job history and required I give them permission to check my credit. I feel that is a violation of my constitutional rights. No employer has the right to peer into my private credit history. I had to give them permission to also do a criminal background check which I understand, but for this particular job, I felt was quite unnecessary.

Finally of course, they required a hair shaft drug screen, where they pluck several hairs from your scalp for spectroscopic chemical analysis. By the time I was done, I felt like I had been molested. You may be wondering what kind of job I was applying for. Surely it was to homeland security, the FBI or something extremely sensitive…right? No. It was a bartending job at the Beau Rivage Casino…hahaha! That is unbelievable isn’t it? Yes, it is an incredibly high paying job, but the requirements are ridiculous.

Modern society is based on shallow attitudes and ratings. We have learned to stereotype and rate people based on different criteria. We are being psychologically conditioned by mass media entertainment: she’s beautiful, he’s an asshole, those people are black, they’re racist, he’s a fundamental Christian bigot, she’s an atheist with no heart or soul and so forth. It’s so ingrained into our lives – we have become slaves to entertainment, religion, patriotism and many other labels.

I talked about how we do not realize how much power we truly have in my previous post on aikido. You live your life, do the best you can and become a slave to society itself. People have this take care of your own backyard mentality because there is nothing you can do to change anything. That’s true and exactly what our leaders want. They want you enslaved and helpless, watching TV, noodling on the web and on and on – all while a handful of super rich individuals have and own everything.

Think about this: You are a Christian parent with a five year old child. Religion and Jesus is everything to you and you’re teaching your child the same thing. Your neighbors are an atheist family with a five year old child. The atheist family believes that Jesus is a myth and never actually existed. They believe the bible is just a bunch of mythological stories plagiarized from other works that predate Christianity. Would you let your Christian child play with the atheist child? Would you be friends with the atheist family? What if the atheist parents told your young impressionable Christian child that nothing in the bible is true? Would you be upset? Of course you would, and chances are, you would not be friends with them. The point is, when religion or any view causes such a deep division among people, it ceases to be good. There are even fundamentalist atheists who think all religion should be outlawed. They are both wrong. I am part of no group and choose instead to be a free thinker, which is also a label and causes division. Isn’t life fun?

Some people think a possible second American revolution is coming. I fully disagree with that. We are far too lazy and just don’t care enough to do anything about it. Have you heard the phrase, divide and conquer? That’s exactly what is going on in this world. We are all divided, not just geographically, but by race, religion, class and other means. The world is filled with problems, but at the heart of every single one of them is this division between us all.

Stereotypes-Labels-Generalizations

Stereotypes-Labels-Generalizations

These labels, stereotypes and shallow generalizations will never go away, but we have to live together and get along. We shouldn’t generalize anything. Some people generalize about Muslims which is ridiculous. They are all different depending on where they’re from and many other factors. It’s just like there are many types of Christians. People think Jewish people are tight with their money, Mexican people steal cars, British people have bad teeth, people from the southern United States commit incest – it goes on forever. Young girls feel ugly when they don’t fit the image of what popular magazines say is beautiful, which is so unsettling it makes me sick. In France, I believe “stick” models are banned from magazine commercials if I’m not mistaken. In America, such a law would be considered a violation of our freedom…hahaha! Go figure.

I don’t have the answers, just some observations. None of this stuff stresses me out any more, it doesn’t help anything, especially me. I was thinking about what could help me and my blog. Here are some ideas:

On The Lighter Side

  • I need to get in the Oprah Winfrey studio audience or do something wrong and get sued on Judge Judy’s TV show. As soon as the mike got near my mouth I would say, “Revellian dot com…that’s r-e-v-e-l-l-i-a-n dot com,” over and over. I wouldn’t shut up until they arrested me gaining me national headlines. While basking in my 15 minutes of fame, I would go streaking down the streets of New York City screaming my website name. Following that, I would get a book deal and a spot on some sitcom. Hey…it’s a plan.
  • If I could be spotted alone with Hillary Clinton and get someone to snap a photo, I would tell everyone I had sex with her. When asked by the media, I would say something smart like, “She was walking with a limp on cloud 9 when I got done with it.” I figure this site would get 10 million hits the day it happened. With 15 year old Miley Cyrus getting tons of attention because of her new racy pictures, I could do something similar. People don’t realize that her ploy was engineered specifically to garner massive press. Vanity Fair magazine got 5 million hits yesterday because of this. After all, isn’t any and all press, good press? Sorry to get off topic towards the end, but I didn’t want to end this post on a sad note. :twisted:

* The picture is How to spot a psychopath! from Dan’s Data
* I actually wrote this post several months ago, one of many sitting unpublished. I added a little to it this morning so it would be better and more current.

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30 Comments

Bobby’s Batch #14 – The Power of Blogging

Apr 27

Posted by Bobby Revell in Bobby's Batch, social networking

What I love most about blogging is how it brings people together from all over Earth. We are all much more alike than we are different. This past week has been painful and spiritually draining, mostly because I see and understand the world’s problems – I sometimes wish I didn’t. I believe that many things like race, religion, politics, patriotism, class, nationalism and many other forms of separatist identification destroy relationships between people in many ways. All these things are as irrelevant as the brand of clothes we wear when compared to our need for each other. We are powerfully interconnected and blogging makes the world so much smaller.

I’ve often thought that the only way people will come together would be if Earth came under attack by aliens from outer space. If the people of Earth faced such a situation, we would come together as one, overlooking foolish differences. We could find that love, which seems to be missing in this world. I see blogging as the most powerful form of communication for us all. I choose to blog because I believe it does bring us all together. While our governments fight, terrorism grows and wars are waged, people in every country are becoming friends; that is powerful, beautiful and majestic.

I say rise above your beliefs and love all people. Try hard to not label others. Love is and will always be the answer to all the worlds problems – not bombs, guns and totalitarian government control (which is exactly where America is headed). The masses of normal people have absolutely no idea how powerful they are and how much impact they can personally have. Take action and do something great for someone in need or for this world:)

Peace and love,

Bobby Revell

Remember that giving is the best part of blogging! Here are this weeks links:

Zeitgeist The Movie – One of the most important films ever made. Take two hours and watch it – it’s free. I mentioned it before, but will keep reminding people to see it. It exposes the myth of 9-11 and the financial institutions of the world. It is extraordinary, powerfully riveting and extremely important to see. It may help wake you up to something you have never seen before. Please watch it, I beg you!

Vaguetarian Tea Room – My very good friend Teeni has moved from her old wordpress.com address to her brand spanking new domain! I am very excited for her because I know how great it is to own your own site and be your own webmaster. To be a real friend, I will go through my older posts where I linked to her and correct each url. Congratulations Teeni, you new blog looks fantastic!

Rubeina, my very first friend from Mauritius! She has a fairly new blog with some great articles – be sure to pay her a visit. She is very intelligent, friendly and an aspiring young guitarist…yay! I found two fine articles from her I wanted to mention here:

  1. 5 Firefox Add-ons to make Directory Submissions faster – A very cool breakdown of useful Firefox addons, check em out!
  2. Defensive Mode – A wonderful post explaining how she feels about working in the corporate world as opposed to really going for your dreams. I really feel connected to her sentiment because I think similarly. I got a lot of bad advice while in high school and made many mistakes. I list a related post below:

Jobs and Careers: My Journey to Happiness – This is one of my favorite posts written by me. It explains what happened to me when I went to work for a huge corporation as a guitar designer/builder. No matter how hard I worked, I was nobody and would have remained nobody as long as I worked there. It’s a heartbreaking post about how my life was almost destroyed because of corporate politics.

I made another new friend, Catatonic Kid from Australia. She is a brilliant and philosophical writer with much insight into life’s dilemmas. I found two posts I wanted to link to here that are important to read:

  1. The Walls We Build: Fighting terrorism or fighting fear? – A well stated and eloquent piece about our perception of terrorism. She mentions something many of us have forgotten: other wars have been started against unseen or unidentifiable enemies even before 9-11. This is a great article.
  2. Roadkill Kippers and Karmic Reward: How to say ‘takecare’ and mean it. – I have suffered from severe depression for years but finally have a handle on it. This post is powerful, meaningful and has a great message about reaching out to others.

Create Your Own Graffiti – I thought someone had kidnapped my good friend the Brown Baron, but he has been putting up a few posts, and this one is very cool. This is one blogger I have missed like crazy. I hope all is well Baron:)

My Purrfect Phoebe! – My friend Marzie has put up the cutest pictures of her Persian kitty yet! If you are looking for a smile and some uplifting cheer, take a look at Phoebe – she is unbelievably precious. The popularity of Marzie’s blog has exploded and is almost intimidating, but she is so friendly and caring it is truly astonishing – something very special and magical indeed!

Blogspot Template – Looking for a cool new template for your blogspot blog? These are some of the best I’ve seen. They have everything including 2 and 3 column and fresh wordpress like themes. They look great!

I wanted to give a special shout out to a few friends I don’t mention enough but deserve some very special limelight:

Bobo – Thanks for talking to me so much when I have been down, it means so much to me:)

Jamilla – I am so proud to win your contest, you are a true friend and lift my spirits so much:)

Zubli – Thanks so much for being a great friend. You’ve been through some extremely difficult hurdles, but you know your real friends are behind you always:)

I have so many people to thank, it will require an extensive post I am already working on – I hope to have it up soon:)

The awesome picture is from LI Biz Blog – Fix it: Energy

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18 Comments

Aikido: The Peaceful Resolution of Conflict

Apr 25

Posted by Bobby Revell in philosophy, politics, thought

Whenever I’ve written a “deep” article in the past, I’ve noticed that few people are interested. I hope you read this one. I’ve been a little burned out on blogging and have been taking a little break. I feel better now:)

When it comes to the subjects of religion and philosophy, I rarely share my views because people take it so personally. I feel like religion tends to segregate people instead of bringing them together in many cases, especially in America. Martin Luther King said the most segregated time in America in on Sunday morning; he was absolutely correct. I was raised to be a catholic. At age 13, I scrutinized and questioned the beliefs I was taught and decided that I wasn’t a Christian. There seemed to be too many different versions of Christianity, all with differing viewpoints. Every group thinks they are right.

Most of my spiritual and philosophical beliefs come from martial arts, many from the teachings of Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba. I’ve studied virtually every philosophy, but none are as deep and truly applicable in modern times as his. Aikido is a martial art unlike any other in it’s level of depth and philosophical beauty. In my opinion, Ueshiba was one of the greatest martial arts master who ever lived. It wasn’t because he could defeat dozens of armed attackers with the utmost of ease, it was the meaning and harmonious nature of what he taught. It is based on the peaceful resolution of conflict, which is apparently impossible to understand by the inept and ignorant leaders who run this world. Aikido should be taught to every child, the world would be a better place.

Here’s a breakdown of what Aikido (way of harmonious spirit) means:

ai – joining, harmonizing

ki – spirit, life energy

do – way, path

The point is, there is always a way to achieve peaceful resolution in all conflict – in everything from terrorism to inner city gangs. Of course, when you have moronic idiots in charge of countries (like George W. Bush), it seems like an impossibility. Morihei Ueshiba, possibly the most prolific and powerful warrior who ever lived (besides Miyamoto Musashi), thought that harmony was the answer to every problem. His teachings have had the most profound influence on my personal philosophy.

The hurricane of miracles blows perpetually. Day and night the phenomenon surges around us on all sides, and (not least marvelous) all without disturbing the majestic tranquility of the creation. This tumult is harmony.

-Victor Hugo

It is easy to drop bombs on people, shoot them, not negotiate and have this staunch position of unyielding resolve. What is the difference between dropping a nuclear bomb on a country and fighting them slowly in a long drawn out campaign such as the war in Iraq? Not much. When you think about the casualties on all sides in the current war, people are dying slowly rather than all at once such as by nuclear bomb; however, the public is more accepting of a slow war. It seems too harsh to just blow a country off the map in one strike. Instead, they do it slowly killing even more people, but it’s easier to swallow. Either way, it is an act of cowardice and stupidity.

In gang or prison violence, there’s this emphasis on “respect”. You’ve seen it in action. Some guy says, “You disrespected me fool,” and stabs someone 147 times – blood splattering – body parts lying about. That is the act of an ignorant fool; the same type of ignorant fools who run the military and modern politics. Yes, our current president has an uneducated, gangster mentality. Life is not a football game or a wrestling match…haha.

This is exactly why wrestling (the fake wrestling like Hulk Hogan performs) is such a popular form of entertainment in America. People love to get behind some loud mouth idiot who beats people up. These are the types of people who vote in America (sorry if that offends some of you). Sure, the times we tried diplomacy in the past came with tremendous problems, but we immediately reverted back to the old war mentality. We haven’t given diplomacy a fair chance. We need an inspiring and peaceful leader with a calm demeanor, not an abrasive person who will cause more problems than ever. I don’t want another president pissing off the world because of his religious ideology.

Many American Christians despise and are fearful of atheists, but I would argue that there is much to learn from the atheistic viewpoint. I believe that atheists are more open minded than religious people in many respects. When a person learns something, they usually have to really study it before they believe it. The opposite is true of religion; you believe it first and study it later. Most religious people are religious either because their parents taught them or they just decided to be religious later in life after coming in contact with a religious group. I respect your religious views but do not judge me for having different beliefs.

I am not religious, nor an atheist. I believe there is a higher power of some sort, but I have a much different concept of what God is than is taught in tradition. I see god as the energy of life or spirit of the universe. I don’t know what God is, but I do know what I’ve experienced. When you hop on the mat with an Aikido master and are thrown ten feet, you feel the power of God. That harnessed energy (ki, chi or prana), doesn’t come from that person, it comes from the power of the universe or God. It is in us and all around us. After practicing Yoga and martial arts all my life, I am certain that there is something – an unfathomable power we all possess. This is far beyond the scope of this article but wanted to share some of my views.

What separates many eastern religions from western is the cultivation of ki or qi (vital energy or life force) which is developed through yoga and breathing exercises. Contrary to popular belief, yoga is religion. It is part of Hinduism. If you practice yoga or the law of attraction, you are practicing aspects of Hinduism. Basically, it is exercise for your spirit or soul. I do not believe that God lives in the clouds or in the kingdom of heaven. I do not believe bad people burn in hell for all of eternity after they die – that is superstition in my opinion.

I am more agnostic than anything. You can believe whatever you want, but I just don’t know the ultimate truth – neither do you (even if you believe you do). I recently got in an argument in the middle of an Aikido class. This Christian guy refused to practice ki breathing techniques because ki is not mentioned in the bible. He told me that ki was the devil’s working…hahaha! I told him that ki is as real and natural as anything you can touch, see or smell. He literally plugged his ears and loudly hummed so he could not hear (unbelievably, he is a 36 year old doctor). We had to remove him from the class for disrupting us. He allowed his religious beliefs to prevent him from learning the most important aspects of martial arts training. I couldn’t believe how close-minded and childish he was.

I recommend all world leaders (and you) to read a fantastic book:

It is “Aikido In Everyday Life – Giving in to get your way”. This book explains how to achieve the peaceful resolution of conflict in every situation – the art of intelligence. I challenge you to read it. It is possible to win by losing or giving in, something above the heads of most western thought. By pulling out of the Iraq war does not declare that we lost – which is the dumbed down thinking of many people. Is requiring a leader to have intelligence too much to ask? This is one reason I may vote for Obama, he exemplifies this idea and the world has yet to implement such wisdom. When I hear someone brag about how tough they are, I am unimpressed (which is how Hillary defines herself). Yes, I think of Obama as being on a higher level of intellect than all the other current candidates. He is not perfect, but might be the best of the available choices (though I’m still undecided). I could care less what religion a president practices. I wish people weren’t so close-minded. I live in a country where an atheist will never be elected, which is ridiculous – something to think about.

He who will not apply new remedies must expect old evils

-Francis Bacon

My martial arts background: The first art I ever learned was Moo Duk Kwan (which means school of martial virtue, an old school variation of modern Tae Kwon Do, the Korean martial art many people are familiar with). Luckily for me, I had a fantastic teacher, Dr. Donald Green. He taught me that compassion was much more important than hurting people. He was very philosophical, and amazingly so considering his incredible and smart fighting style. I spent nine years studying Hapkido (a Korean art of joint locks, throwing and striking), and have been involved in boxing, freestyle jujitsu and Aikido ever since. I have learned to not get mad and to treat others with kindness and love through martial arts. Whatever path you choose in life, may it be one of peace and love:)

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26 Comments

Homeopathic: Bogus Remedies or Million Dollar Ideas?

Apr 22

Posted by Bobby Revell in Nutrition - Health, blog marketing

It never ceases to amaze me how companies make millions selling bogus products that do not work. In the early 70’s, a product called a solar clothes drier made a company millions upon millions. It consisted of a string and directions which read: Tie between two trees and hang your clothes on it while the sun is shining. Then you had that ridiculous million dollar idea, The Pet Rock, which was a stupid rock in a cardboard home. They made truckloads of cash.

Nowadays, one of the easiest ways to rip people off is selling them fraudulence in the area of “homeopathic” remedies. Just remember this, if it is labeled homeopathic, it doesn’t work. Homeopathic means it is modern day snake oil, or Corinthian leather. It means it contains nothing, or something in such small diluted amounts that it costs nothing to manufacture.

Here’s an example of what homeopathy is:

Salt causes you to retain water, which could be construed as a cure for dehydration by an evil marketer trying to sell you a bogus remedy. To make it into a magical remedy, you dilute the salt into water – not just once, but anywhere from a hundred to thousands of times. It becomes a sodium solution labeled “1000x”. The more times it’s diluted the more powerful it is…hahaha! Then, by harnessing imaginary resonant vibrations, it becomes a cure for water retention! That’s right, the opposite of what it normally did before it was diluted. If poison ivy makes you itch, then dilute poison ivy 1000x and it now cures the itch instead of causing it. It’s actually more complicated than that but you get the idea. In other words, it doesn’t work. It is a blatant marketing scam with extremely low overhead. One poison ivy leaf could make a million bottles of itch tonic.

Head On

The king of this type of product is one you may have seen advertised on TV called “Head On”, a waxy grease stick that you rub on your forehead to cure headaches. Please don’t waste your money on any of these deceptive products. On the other hand, the company who made this (Miralus Healthcare) are marketing geniuses. The words “head on” are repeated three times very loudly in a brainwashing fashion much like the word terrorism is repeated ad nauseam on the US daily news. This is an unforgettable commercial. Brainwashing is a fantastic marketing tool. It has been used successfully by people such as Adolf Hitler and president George W. Bush.

Miralus Healthcare made millions selling this fake Headache cure

My Ingenious Start up

To prey upon people’s fears of the supernatural, I want to market a special anti-ghost salt. Based on ancient folklore – salt has long been used to protect homes from ghosts, ghouls, demons and evil spirits. Just look at how many people bought a Ouija Board to contact spirits – an ingenious marketing plan indeed.

Unlike Kosher salt, Spirit Salt is blessed. $24.95 per box

I thought up a TV commercial for my product: Show a terrified little girl crying and shivering in fear. She screams, “Mommy, daddy, there’s a monster in my room. Please save me.”

The mom sprinkles “Spirit Salt” in her door way and window sill. The little girl goes to sleep with a smile on her face – protected from monsters. A priest pops up and says, “Don’t live in fear any longer. If you love your children, protect them from evil with Spirit Salt! Let your kids know you really care. Revellian’s Spirit Salt, don’t let the goblins get ya!”

You place it on the bottom shelves in grocery stores so frightened children will see it and beg. Make the parents feel guilty for not buying it. Also, the kids will think their parents don’t care about them if they don’t purchase it – pure brainwashing perfection. So, do I have a million dollar idea? I’m looking for investors, please contact me immediately if you have start up capital.

* The Head On picture is from Byrdhouse HeadOn: Apply Directly To The Forehead
* The Pet Rock picture is from Eikongraphica Why Sylvia Sucks

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31 Comments

Bobby’s Batch #13 – Niche Free

Apr 20

Posted by Bobby Revell in Bobby's Batch, social networking

Being niche free means absolute freedom to write about whatever I want. I am truly thankful that I chose to not take this blog in that direction; however, I may one day start something like that. Being niche free means:

  • I don’t worry about stats or how much traffic I have
  • I link to an extremely wide variety of blogs
  • I receive links from many different types of blogs
  • I am here for friendship above all other ideals

I have built a strong blog with many readers, and a fair amount of traffic. That’s why I have made one of my most important goals to share with others, especially those who are just starting out or struggling for a link. Sure, any blogger can take a viral approach like link trains and such, but these links really don’t mean anything. I personally don’t want 5000 links from people who don’t actually read my blog – that’s why I no longer participate in anything viral. I am extremely proud of my diminishing Technorati authority – down from 900 to a little over 300. If I wanted, I could easily pump it back up but see no reason.

I see people linking to these prominent blogs and I cannot understand it. They don’t link to you, so why waste your time helping people who already have all they need? It’s like giving Donald Trump a Christmas present.

If you adjust content to improve stats you destroy your own validity. I remember when I first got into SEO, it really changed my content in a not-so-good way. Later on, after I gave SEO less attention, all my blogging stress went away. Then again, I am more of a writer than a tech freak. I have friends from nearly every niche and every country, which is a fantastic goal.

Being niche free means I don’t discriminate against any blogger because they write completely unrelated content. People who write highly focused niche sites rarely visit me because of that very reason. I really notice that since I started using Entrecard. Sure it’s brought me a lot of traffic, but most of it is a one second visit, just to drop a card. Overall, it’s not bringing in people who really read. Most folks are only out to gain for themselves, which is at the root of many world problems. I will reject no Entrecard ads unless the site promotes pornography, racism or something similar.

I give out 80% more links than I receive, and will not stop any time soon.

My goals in blogging have changed somewhat and I’ve gone through many phases. I’ve tried everything in blogging in someway or another but I am really happy with where I’m at – just being a writer who loves to learn. Here’s this weeks batch:

Bloodstone Chapter 1 – A fifteen chapter tale by Floog, one of the best writers I’ve ever seen in blogging. The story is long for a blog but is worth reading (though I haven’t yet finished yet…haha!). He definitely has the skill to become a famous author and I hope he does. Floog, Please put this in an e-book!

Flipping Blog Scams MMO Niche is Full of Jerks – Garry Conn comes unglued at the seams in an explosive fulguration of brutal honesty with this much needed post. I completely understand his angst and agree with him 100%. I hold Garry’s integrity in high regard, and am very glad he wrote this. I became somewhat disgusted by the way many MMO (make money online) sites operate. Many of them have pathetic content, write on a third grade level, are filled with disgusting greed, will use you, rip you off and then say nasty things about you. All the sites Garry mentioned deserve being told and put in their place.

You People Make Me Sick – Ed Philly wrote a scathing article where he explodes like a nuclear inferno. Because his site is written from scratch, I couldn’t figure out how to link to a post, but is no problem – the article is on the front page. Ed, if you give me the correct url, I will fix this. WARNING: This article does contain volatile profanity, but I completely understand why he wrote it. I like to see people let it all out and he does it like no other!

Avoiding Copyright Infringement in Your Underwear (or Swimsuit) – DCR Blogs wrote this informative and entertaining piece. He has an uncanny ability to add humor into many of his posts, even when getting serious, something we should all learn to do! I love that weird picture Dan!

Greencard Soldiers – Menopauseprincess wrote this disturbing post about how the Bush administration is trading citizenship for fighting in the war. I had no idea they were doing this and think it’s wrong. Be sure to check it out.

The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know – an invaluable resource for fiction writers.

The Best Gross, Unpleasant, and Otherwise Strange Dating Sites from Vat19 is one freaky post. I was shocked to see how bizarre these dating sites are. It is hilarious!

Invisible Executive Order Deserves a Closer Look: This is a great post from Rational Outrage about the new Bush executive order. They can legally freeze assets of anyone who “threatens the stabilization effort in Iraq”. However, the order could easily be abused. Definitely take the time to read this. I believe Bush has destroyed our civil liberties and the middle class – I cannot wait to see him gone. Just look at how horrible the American economy and value of the dollar is now. I strongly suggest you do not vote for McCain.

24eyes – The Premium RSS Dashboard on the Internet – This cool and powerful web 2.0 application allows you to read all the news from every source on one page. If you’re a news junkie like me, this is very useful.

I usually have more links than this but I am tired – so I’m exercising my right to be lazy :mrgreen:

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24 Comments

Solicitation: Britney Spears & Judge Judy

Apr 18

Posted by Bobby Revell in Humor, horror

I never visit New Orleans without incident. There is always something weird that happens to me and this trip was no exception. I walked out of an occult shoppe in the French Quarter where I purchased a brand new set of Haitian voodoo dolls. With the weekend coming up, I hate to be without them.

I was standing on the sidewalk for a moment deciding where to go next when a Rolls Royce limousine pulled up next to me. The back window cracked open – thickened hashish smoke rolled gently outward, permeated with the fragrant vapors of perfume and whiskey. I heard a bit of girlish giggling inside, a familiar voice squealed, “Come here dude.”

I thought I was about to be robbed or kidnapped, but stood there bravely with wallet tightly gripped in my steely vice. The window came down revealing a shocking spectacle – Britney Spears smoking hash in an elaborately decorated Turkish pipe – the words Oops I Smoked it Again engraved in exotic script along it’s contours.

voodoo dolls

voodoo dolls

I said, “Hi Britney!”

“How much?” she replied.

I was confused, unsure what she meant and replied, “How much? How much for what?”

She lifted her sunglasses glaring at me like I was playing dumb, “Don’t even play with me right now, I ain’t in no mood for that. How much for you sugar?” I shot her a look of bewildering perplexity – she continued, “How much for you to crawl in here and give me and my friend some afternoon delight!”

I leaned over to see her friend; it was a Judge Judy in a black bra and panties – I almost barfed. Judge Judy rapped her mallet on the head rest and in a most authoritative tone commanded, “Order in the court…you answer Ms. Spears sir. How much do you charge…hehehahaha!”

They took a few shots of liquor and busted into hysterical laughter. Britney said, “What’s your name honey?”

“Uh…well er um…Bobby, my name is Bobby.”

Britney smiled in an extremely erotic fashion, “Do you find me attractive Bobby?”

“Yes Britney, I guess…but you are looking a bit tattered.”

“It’s been a long day…how much?” she squawked.

I remembered a prostitute negotiation I saw on the TV show “Cops” and said, “Britney, for you…a thousand dollars. For Judge Judy, 100 million dollars in unmarked twenties – I want the money upfront. This is a high end district. This is grade AAA American male,” I then gave them a runway model turnaround and put my hand on my hip.

Judge Judy started crying, “Wah…He thinks I’m ugly. Nobody wants me.”

Britney wrapped her arms around her and said, “Poor Judy, I’ll get you laid. You deserve it.”

I said, “It’s not that you’re ugly your honor, you’re just such a mean sour pus on your show. You are ugly inside and quite frankly, it gives me chills. Another thing…that black widow tattoo on your breast is very unattractive. Brit, if you get rid of the Judge, I will get in.”

Britney twirled her tongue wildly with spectacular dexterousness and said, “Too bad for you loser, you don’t know what you just missed out on,” she rolled up the window and the limousine drove off. Sorry, I’m just not attracted to judge Judy. I immediately felt degraded. I drove home and took five hot showers trying to wash the filthy thoughts from my soul. I felt so disgusting.

When you’re bored or burned out from blogging and don’t have any good ideas for a post, make one up!

* This story is pure fiction by Bobby Revell
* I do not really practice voodoo
* If Britney or Judge Judy sue me, I have no money to give them and will move to another country

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The Hypocrisy of Alcohol Versus Drugs

Apr 16

Posted by Bobby Revell in Nutrition - Health, issue awareness, thought

I don’t know all the drug and alcohol laws in every country, but here in America, hypocrisy is the golden rule. The way society and law enforcement perceives drugs is an outrage. I find it disgusting how liquor guzzling people look down on those who use drugs. This may sound like a bizarre statement to many – please read on.

Does Occasional Use Make You An Addict?

If a person drinks beer occasionally or maybe has a glass of wine with meals, they are considered normal. If a person smokes pot or snorts an occasional line of cocaine, they are widely viewed as a scumbag drug addict. By that same rationale, if marijuana were legal, it would be considered normal to smoke it and would lose the drug addict label. I find it amazing that one of the most dangerous drugs known, alcohol, is legal. Not only is it legal, it is socially acceptable. It is considered a reward for a hard day work or for a celebration of any kind. It is advertised everywhere and incessantly tantalizes young people. Don’t you love the funny beer commercials during the superbowl? It’s socially acceptable to be a legal drug abuser.

beer drinking girls

beer drinking girls

Imagine these ladies having crack pipes instead – how would it change your perception?

Alcohol is made into fancy, colorful and delicious mixed drinks. Influential actors and musicians are famous for being drinkers and drug users – they are admired for it. I would argue that musicians like The Beatles, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix would have not been as good without using drugs. I’m not saying you should use drugs to improve your artistic abilities, but certainly affected the minds of these people. I have made millions of drinks for millions of discerning alcohol drinkers, it’s like bartending in a crack house. In Burma and Thailand, methamphetamine is known as yaba. It is offered in strawberry, banana and other assorted flavors – how horrifying is that? To make a dangerous drug taste like candy so it appeals to children certainly is a terrible thought. Alcohol based mixed drinks are the same thing! The difference is, one is legal, the other is not.

You maybe thinking that methamphetamine is by far worse than alcohol. I hate to tell you, it is not. Alcohol kills more people than all drugs combined. Alcohol is physically addictive; methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, peyote and LSD are not. A highly addicted alcoholic can die from the withdrawal, much like a person addicted to xanax or heroin can.

95% of all drug related deaths worldwide are caused by alcohol and tobacco

To see a judge sentence a 19 year old to prison for 8 years on a first offense drug charge because they had one 10mg valium is an absolute injustice – especially if that judge goes home and drinks a liter of scotch. I saw that happen yesterday and it really got under my skin ( I am only hypothesizing about the judge drinking). Nearly all young people will try drugs or get drunk at some point. Most will outgrow their use, but many will end up destroying their lives. I have what I consider the most accurate comparison chart of respective dangerous drugs including alcohol here: drug comparisons.

Should Drugs Be Decriminalized?

I believe that drugs should be completely decriminalized in favor of treatment. It’s ridiculous to send someone to prison because they are caught with drugs. Prison will only worsen things and ruin that person’s life; however, a person selling large quantities of illicit substances, does deserve prison.

So I ask you, should alcohol be illegal? Should the laws be changed in favor of treatment for people? One of the oldest arguments is that if alcohol is legal, then marijuana should be legal too; it is in some states and countries. In my opinion, marijuana should be legal. If not, then make alcohol illegal.

nicole richie cocaine

nicole richie cocaine

Nicole Richie licking cocaine off a plate. How appealing is that?

What is a more difficult drug addiction to conquer: cocaine or alcohol? I would say that alcohol is much more difficult for most people. What is another completely legal drug that is one of the most difficult to quit of all? Tobacco. To quit smoking cigarettes is probably as difficult as heroin or alcohol, maybe even more!

The point is, we all live in an extremely biased world filled with hypocrisy. I believe that all substances that alter the mind are bad for you. They destroy lives, cause heart attacks, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, brain damage and so forth. I will never personally judge someone for using drugs. I will however help them if they want it. What bothers me to no end is someone who drinks alcohol saying something negative about a drug user. If you drink alcohol, even in scarce moderation, you too are a drug user and are no better than a crack head…period. If the previous sentence offends you and you drink, you might be a hypocrite! We are all equal and should be treated as such.

* What are some of the drug and alcohol laws in your country?
* The cute girls drinking beer is German Beer Girls by TripleDuck
* The picture of Nicole Richie is from Nicole Richie really likes cocaine

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My Six Word Blogging Memoir & Shamanic Journey

Apr 15

Posted by Bobby Revell in memes, short-story, thought

I was tagged by Mitchell Allen on his post Six Simple Sounds Summarize Self Story and Anastasia on her article 6 Word Memoir for this six word vignette to fully and accurately describe the highly distilled, purified and laboratory filtered essence of my blog. I wanted to peel back the endless layers – an exfoliation of galvanized life crust – disrobing all meaning to uncover the naked truth. I want to strip bare my blog and unsheath what lies beneath.

To get the truth, I traveled west to meet up with my half Mayan shaman, the enigmatic and powerful warlock master, Eldeguado Giovianni Menguadatucci. He has been the Revell family soothsayer for over 942 years. I met him in Sedona’s Painted desert. The ominous storm clouds gathered above as always – known as Eldeguado’s Cumulonimbus. He lives in the yellow tent-house pictured below. Unfortunately, his mule Poncho, passed away last year and he travels barefoot everywhere he goes.

eldeguado's cumulonimbus

eldeguado's cumulonimbus

I traveled there with my guide, Quentin Montana, who has been with me on many shamanic journeys. We crawled in a beautiful tepee, which sported an atmospheric Aztec motif. We sat inside, sipping the highly bitter witches brew of Datura, which contains narcotic alkaloids and is known in Sanskrit as dhattūrāḥ or thorn apple. It has long been used as an instrument for obtaining prophetic dreams or messages in various tribes. Another powerful ingredient was peyote, a spineless, dome-shaped cactus (Lophophora williamsii) native to Mexico and the southwest United States, having buttonlike tubercles that are chewed fresh or dry as a narcotic drug by certain Native American peoples. Also called mescal.

Eldeguado Guovianni Menguadatucci

Eldeguado Guovianni Menguadatucci

Eldeguado read my blog in a shamanic vision and channeled the ancient man-god Quetzalcoatl (A god of the Toltecs and Aztecs, one of the manifestations of the sun god Tezcatlipoca and represented as a plumed serpent), who appeared before me in all his kaleidoscopic glory. I melted in a river of liquid dreamscapes, tasted lemon sun rays and traversed the astral plane.

Quetzalcoatl in human form, using the symbols of Ehecatl, from the Codex Borgia

Quetzalcoatl in human form, using the symbols of Ehecatl, from the Codex Borgia

Eldeguado and I hummed the musical pitch of E flat in perfect unison. Quetzalcoatl, joined in with a spectacular operatic low A natural – together forming a thunderous tritone. The dissonance of this specific tritone (often used as the main interval of dissonance in musical harmony) further intensifies the prophetic nature of the visions. We faced at the correct mathematical angles to form a psychic epiphany, opening the gates to the netherworlds. The powerful chord resonated through the marrow of my bones, stimulating my third eye (pineal gland), allowing me to retrieve my six word memoir.

It was an incredible experience, though I have had an excruciatingly swollen medulla oblongata ever since. This would have made genius author Carlos Castaneda and his metaphoric character Don Juan proud. So…here’s my prophetic memoir, as told by Quetzalcoatl:

Psychic Voodoo Master’s Love Quest Spectacle

*Ahhh…I feel better now.
*I do not advocate drug use, this post is entirely fiction
*The spectacular desert cloud picture is Skyorclowns by Shaze2
*The beautiful blue picture with meditating man is This desert is not hot by Perfectclick
*I tag the following people to write their own six word memoir:

Paisley, Setu, Moyrn, Floog, Karen, Marzie, Haney, Miss MoneyPenny, and of course Nick Phillips

You don’t have to include a mesmerizing story, but it would be fun if you did!

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