Success Warrior: The Blog That Embraces ADHD

Alcohol is so much fun

So,

If it were not for alcohol, it would have been a fairly quiet night.  I wonder what these people think the next day.

Heat, Puberty, and Beliefs

 
So,

My air conditioner has developed a habit of shutting off during the hottest part of the day.  So far, we have been unable to figure out why it does this other than the possibility that it's just being sadistic.  It's better than being cold, by far, but it would be nice if we were able to find out why the air conditioner takes a daily siesta.

Last night, Trey, Tia, and I were doing some light-hearted chatting and, I don't remember why she asked but, Tia asked Trey if he was going through puberty.

"I don't know what that means," he answered but continued anyway, "but yes, so I can be as funny as dad."

"Is that true?"  she asked me.  "Is that when it happened?"

"Yes," I answered.  "That's when my funny dropped."

We aren't done discussing beliefs yet and I'd like to take a slight side trip while still mostly staying on the topic.  Weird, I know. 

First, a pet peeve.  Just because most college texts are written for recent high school graduates, that doesn't mean that they should be stoopid.  Just sayin'.

In my text under a subheading titles, "Cultures Are Inherently Logical," there is a short discussion about Japanese women and why they don't like to show their teeth.  Short story, it's a culture thing.  Then this bit is thrown in, "Although current cultural behavior may sometimes seem silly or illogical, nearly all serious rules and values originate in deep-seated beliefs."

So, let's say that you practice some kind of cultural what-ever that has been passed down for generation after generation for so long that no one really knows why Japanese women aren't allowed to smile a lot (feel free to insert any other senseless action in the place of the Japanese women - eat fish on Friday, growing curly sideburns, covering your entire body with a tarp, drizzling honey on your - wait, that's something else).  They just can't.  These people have to or can't do these things.  It's a deep-seated belief.  This cultural oddness was handed down to them from people who thought the world was flat, slavery was perfectly fine, women were property, and all other manner of "you've got to be kidding" types of things.

In what way does this make "Cultures ... Inherently Logical"?  Basing your current behavior on the superstitions and beliefs of people who really had no clue doesn't seem even remotely logical.

The author calls Japanese women silly and illogical and admonishes her readers to acknowledge "the inherent logic of a culture ..."

Where do you stand on beliefs and logic?  Should they be related?  When people are acting illogical, should we pretend that it's logical?  I'm not saying that open mockery needs to be the case for minor stuff but I've been known to say, "That's weird," when I learn about someone doing something quite strange just because that's their culture.  On the other hand, I don't think we need to even remotely respect cultural behaviors that are unethical.

Let's hear your thoughts while I go back and respond to yesterday's comments.

Nothin'

 
So,

Odd as it may be, I seem to have run out of words.

They've got to be around here somewhere.

Did you leave them in the car?

Stuff I Learned Today

 
So,

Here are some things that I learned today.  John Stuart Mill does not have an "S" at the end of his name, which sounds unusual when it's said (my apologies to anyone with the same last name).

Utilitarianism was a groundbreaking theory of ethics that doesn't really hold water so I'm not entirely sure how groundbreaking that makes it but both are true.  One thing that made it groundbreaking was the fact that Mill broke away from using religion in any form (specifically Christianity) as any basis for morality.  That probably didn't make him too popular but he said that Utilitarianism was so good that Yahweh probably sanctioned it so that made it okay.  That's pretty ballsy and something that I'm going to remember in the future.

Obama might have been born in Americaor he might have created some false document.  What's most surprising about this tidbit of info is that it's still being discussed and Obama is taking part.  Like any kind of proof is going to change the mind of a birther.  Shah!  As if.  It doesn't matter where he was born, he's got the job and he's staying.  Deal with it.

One of the objections to Utilitarianism is that there isn't enough time to think of all the consequences that will arise from decisions so it's a pointless practice.  Let me back up.  Utilitarianism is a "ends justifies the means" kind of thing and so you have to weigh whether a decision will do more good than bad in order to make the right choice.  Mill called the people making this objection idiots because we formulate most ethical decisions well ahead of when we might be called upon to act upon the decision.  Like you'll go to work one day and the boss will piss you off and then you have to sit and ponder all of the pros and cons that would be associated with killing him.  Maybe making a line down the center of a sheet of paper with one side being "Pros" and the other "Cons".  Possibly consulting other people in the office to get their take on it.  Check with the boss to see how many people depend on him.  Does he mow his mom's lawn in the summer?  Kids depend on his paycheck for braces?  Does he volunteer at a homeless shelter?  All of these things could make you lean toward letting him live.

Okay, enough rambling.  I actually have to finish an assignment on Mill dealing with the issue of having enough time to weigh out all the effects of a decision.  While Mill may have been completely dismissive, the objection isn't completely invalid.  It's impossible to know all the ramifications of a decision.  Every decision is a ripple on the pond that travels out in all directions beyond our sight.

For today's question, let's bring it back to the root:

Does the end justify the means?

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

What Am I Learning?

Is this what they refer to as a "soft tail"? 

So,

I was taking a break from homework to glance over the news and I see that Google is going to be putting in a gigabit fiber Internets line in Kansas City, KS.  How cool is that?

Last week, we had a discussion question about whether or not computer hacking laws should be stricter or tougher or something.  There were two of us that said, "fogedaboudit."  It seems like jurisdiction and manpower would make any new laws work at the same level as the current laws.

The world is changing and it's going to be harder to maintain control of people based on geographical boundaries.

Oh, that reminds me.  South Carolina is thinking about making regular lightbulbs legal to manufacture and use in their state.  The feds are outlowing them and by something like 2014, everyone will be required to use the spiral jobbies that take 15 minutes to get to full brightness.  Supposedly, they use less energy.  I'm not so sure about that because I have a couple that I never turn off because it takes too long for them to start producing light.

It's probably against the law to leave the light on.

Someone warn Tom Bodett.

Anyway, South Carolina is claiming that they can do this because the feds only have jurisdiction if products are going to cross the state lines.  If the lights are produced in South Carolina, sold in South Carolina, and used in South Carolina, then the state believes that they get to choose.  They would be right if laws meant anything at all but the feds are claiming that since there is no way to know for sure that the lights won't be smuggled over state lines, the feds still get to decide whether or not South Carolina can have light bulbs that light up when you turn them on.

While the rest of the Internets is talking about open source being part of this cool new world that we're moving into, I'm learning how to use Office 2010. 

The system is rigged!

Damn skippy!

So, what am I learning?

Patience, wonder, awe, and optimism.

Now, I have to go read about what Aristotle thinks about Google's gigabit fiber service.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

What the Hell Was That?

 
So,

I finished the book but it's been one of those days and I need more time to put my thoughts into words.  What you are getting instead for today are short random snippets, which in turn are going to be incredibly short snippets since my browser crashed during my first attempt to get a blog post up.  I have got to get at least some sleep if I'm going to make it through my workout tomorrow.

I have designed something that I think is going to be very challenging.  Of course, just about everything is very challenging at six in the morning but I think this will take everything I've got.  The cool thing about it is that it's 16 minutes of exercise, done in four 4-minute rounds.  We warm up for about 12 minutes and warm down for about 10 minutes and take a couple of minutes between each round to catch our breath so it ends up being about 50 minutes.  If you were warm though and unconcerned about stretching afterward, you could have a whole body workout in 20 minutes, if you were so inclined.  I think that's cool.  I won't think it's cool 2 minutes into the 4th round but I think it's cool now and I'll think it's cool when I'm done.

Here's something I saw that's kind of the opposite of the Wisconsin shindig.  The mayor of Miami-Dade raised property taxes and gave county employees a raise.  This prompted a recall vote, which passed by a slim margin of 88% for the recall and 12% against.  Nah-nah-nah . . . hey-hey . . . goodbye.

Really?  You're going to raise taxes during the greater depression?  He's lucky they only fired him and didn't just come burn his house down.

Speaking of losing their job, Gilbert Gottfried is no longer the voice of the Aflack duck because he made jokes about the Japan tsunami on Twitter. 

Here's some good news that goes right along with the theme that has organically grown on this blog post.  The GOP theme to be pushed for the 2012 elections is that America is sliding into the abyss.  Of course, according to these losers, all of the blame is to be placed on The Great and Powerful Oz, who might not even be a 'Merkin. 

Quick side note since they mentioned Obama and we can get back to the GOP smacktards and why it's still a good story.  Obama has got to be hating the Middle East right now.  A few months ago he told the huge lie about the country being out of the recession, which I jokingly said might be true since we are in a depression.  He, and my good and close friend Ben Bernanke, meant that we were out of the recession on the good side.  Understand that the unemployment rate of the Great Depression peaked somewhere around 25% and that we are currently sitting at an unemployment rate of about 20% plus the ex-mayor of Miami-Dade and the ex-Aflack duck (the numbers grow daily).  On top of that, gas prices are headed through the roof which is very likely to cause the whole charade of a recession to disappear faster than Obama can talk out the other side of his face.

Anywho,

The GOP is spouting off about the destruction of the United States, which is, in itself not a good thing, but it's happening whether they say it or not.  They can try to pass the blame off on Obama but the whole W thing is still fresh on everyone's mind and, currently, people are thinking, "Sure, Obama is a corporate puppet making things worse but King George started the whole mess so how can we trust you assholes."

That part is good but, also, it's just good that they are telling people that things suck.  There is no "slow, jobless, recovery."  What complete and utter bullshit is that?  I know that Obama gets millions and millions of dollars in bribes but I really don't know if you could pay me enough to say such idiotic tripe.  I may not always look to be the most intelligent guy but I don't know if I could stand in front of a couple of dozens cameras and utter such drivel.  How much money does it take for a person to completely shit-can their honor and self esteem?

Anywho (again),

The fact that the Republicans are going to be telling everyone how much it sucks over the next couple of years is going to help shed light on that fact and with any luck at all, enlighten them just a smidge.  Not by listening to corporate puppets like Romney but by becoming interested enough to check it out themselves.

And in completely unrelated news . . .

That reminds me of a joke.

"How many people with ADHD does it take to change a light bulb?"

"Let's go to the movies."

The supermoon is going to wreak havoc on the world this year as it appears 4 or 5 times and causes things like earthquakes, tsunamis, and the GOP to be stupid enough to tell people that life sucks and all politicians should be sacrificed in the nearest active volcano (okay, I added that last little bit but everyone's life would improve, despite the supermoons).

Last, because I truly should go to bed and probably could have written the post on The Anti-American Manifesto now that I look back at what I have written so far, is the title of the post.  It's what one of my karate students said to me as I demonstrated something I have been working on over the last couple of weeks.  I have been trying to see how many times I can hit someone on a takedown before they are actually flat on the ground.  Today was 5, if you don't count the 2 knee strikes.  One to the thigh, one to the groin, one to the solar plexus, one to the eyes, and one to the throat. 

I figure that about covers it.

Glancing Through the News This Morning

So,

Mark Zuckerberg is Time's Person of the Year this year.  While I'm going to say, "So what?" to this, it's a step up from Ben Bernanke from last year.  The people at Time that pick these things must sit around the table in the conference room with a big Rasta blunt and bags of Doritos.

"Duuude, how about Ben Bernanke?"

Looking over the list of people that have gotten this award(?), it's a bizarre list of people, some of which would have made more of a contribution to this planet had they died during birth.

Zuckerberg isn't in that category but I'm not so sure that I understand all life altering his contribution is.  I usually check Facebook each morning and I try to check it again before heading off to bed but I can't say that I would miss it if it didn't exist. 

Assange was in the running but apparently, it's unclear if his contribution will actually change anything.  I concur.

It's clear that it could have the potential to change things but all the fervor will die down soon enough and we'll be on to the next scandal.  Really, is anyone surprised by anything that's come out?

Earlier this week, a Virginia judge ruled that citizen's can't be forced into buying health insurance.

Now, that's just silly. 

Of course citizens can be forced into buying health insurance.  You just have to have people willing to dish out the force and a health insurance company willing to accept the money.

That's like saying that you can't force citizen's that don't have any children to pay for elementary schooling.  Sure you can.

You can make them pay for wars that they don't want, roads they don't drive on, and pork projects used to buy re-elections for politicians they don't want in office.

It's really not that hard.  First, you take the money from people by intimidation and force (but you call it "taxes" because intimidation and force isn't politically correct), then you skim some off for you and your friends, and then you use some of the money to buy health insurance for the people "for their own good".

Easy peasy, lemon squeezey.

  Brett Favre's streak has ended.

It's pretty amazing that the guy went out there game after game and some days, the defense just beat the snot out of him.  Still, the next week he was out there again and this went of for 19 years.

Next up is Peyton Manning who has to play, without fail, for 5 more years.

With the streak broken, do you think Favre will actually retire this year?

Have you seen the Levi's commercial with him playing casual football with a bunch of friends?  Would that be weird?  To have Brett Favre throwing a football to you?

I've glanced through tons of headlines today but nothing else has really caught my eye.

So, tell me. 

What caught your eye today (in the news, that is)?

Question of the Week?

 
So,

Out of the blue over the last week or so, people all around me are asking me if I have lost weight.  It's been really weird because:

1. I don't think that I've lost any weight.  Not that I would know because I can't remember the last time that I weighed myself.  I don't really care so I gave up the weekly habit a long, long, time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
2. It has been surprising who some of these people have been.  When I say that some of these have come out of the blue, I mean that they have come out of the BLUE.
3. Plus the sheer number of people lately.  It's been a little bit freaky.

Speaking of freaky, yesterday I was planning on getting up around 4:30.  I say around because I usually wake up some time before the alarm.  Somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes before the alarm.  Anyway, I received a phone call from work at 3:30. 

This morning, I was planning on getting up at 3:30 because I needed to go into work to take care of some things before the grave shift left and before my morning workout.  I received a phone call from work at 2:30.  What's up with that?

Tomorrow, I plan on getting up at 10:00.  (Not really but just seeing if I get a call at 9:00 - that beats 2:30).

And, since I'm feeling a bit tired, I don't think there are any more words to share for the day.

 

Empty

 
My brain is empty this afternoon. 

Nothing, I got nothing.

My son, who apparently hates anything that is in working order, stepped on and broke his lunch box this afternoon that I bought him as a gift from Cedar Point.

It's such a common occurrence, his destroying things, but this time, it's reached the point of being old and I've got nothing in my head to blog about.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll look back at this and laugh.

Doubt it.

But that's what they say, isn't it?

See you tomorrow.

I'd Love to Comment on the Recent Election . . .

but I'm in the middle of a project to create a surprise for my son.  I don't think I would have time to do it justice so I suppose it will have to wait.  I don't want to wait too long though because the presidential campaigning should be starting soon.  Get your treats, drinks, and 3D glasses ready because it should be quite the show.

Speaking of which (really quickly), I read that the front runners for Team Right-Half are Romney, Huckabee, and Palin.  I know Obama shot himself in the foot with the healthcare debacle but seriously, that's the best Team R has to put forward? 

On the fitness front, I've really taken to the Tabata workouts.  Man, do they burn, both during and after.  I'm going to be changing things around after Thanksgiving so that I'm doing more cardio and more Tabata workouts.  I'm not sure how that's going to go but I'm sure it will be interesting.  Probably much more interesting than watching a debate between Romney, Huckabee, and Palin.  With my experiment, I may end up losing a few pounds.  If you were to watch the debates, you could lose IQ points.

Back to my project. 

Have a great day!