Once upon a time there was a kingdom of people who pursued happiness. Nothing was more important to them than being happy. The happier they became, the happier they wanted to be. The source of the people's happiness was a magic Happiness Machine. Whenever the people felt unhappy, they would pour their troubled feelings into the Happiness Machine. The magic machine would melt their feelings down and purify them. The residue of their troubles became dross, and the dross was drained away and dumped into a distant part of the kingdom. The people would take their purified feelings and go away singing and feeling happy. The years and centuries went by, and the happy people became happier and happier because of the wonderful effects of the Happiness Machine.

There was only one problem. Another group of people lived in a distant part of the kingdom where all the dross was dumped. The dross made them very unhappy. And the more dross that was dumped, the unhappier they became. Unfortunately, these poor, unhappy people were not permitted to use the happiness machine, because the one thing the magic machine could not do was purify its own dross.

The unhappy people complained to the happy people about the problems they had with the dross.

But the Happy People ignored heir complaints. When they were confronted with the terrible results of their happiness, these Happy People simply took their troubled feelings to the Happiness Machine and it made them happy again. It was easy to believe that it was not the dross of their own troubles that made other people unhappy. Rather, they convinced themselves that the unhappy people were just incurably unhappy and that they had nobody but themselves to blame for their unhappiness.

It was not long before the unhappy people began to protest more insistently about their situation. They organized marches and demonstrations. They demanded that the dross be removed from their part of the kingdom. And they demanded a fair share of happiness for their people. But the happy people turned a deaf ear to their protests, which only served to make the unhappy people angrier, and they protested all the more.

Finally, the happy people could no longer ignore the protests. They used force to put down the protesters, and arrested and jailed the leaders. They passed laws and organized military force to control the unhappy people. Many of the unhappy people were killed. This only made the others angrier and more unhappy. They began to plot and plan how they could destroy the Happiness Machine.

The conflict and tension caused a severe drain on the Happiness Machine.

The conflict and tension caused a severe drain on the Happy People's happiness. In addition, to everything else, many of them were becoming uneasy about the way the unhappy people were being treated. All these new troubles made the Happiness Machine work even harder, and consequently, even more dross was produced. They had to build an even bigger and better Happiness Machine to take care of the happiness needs of the people; consequently, the dross was piled higher and higher and spread farther and farther into other parts of the kingdom, which made more and more people unhappy and angry. It was not long before the unhappy people were in a constant state of rebellion.

Then a new and even greater danger arose. The Happiness Machine became so large and productive that there was no place on Earth left to put the dross. The piles of dross crept closer and closer to the homes of the happy people and to the place where the Happiness Machine was operating. Now the Happy People were threatened not only by the rebellion of the unhappy people, but also by their own Happiness Machine.

The new danger caused even greater internal conflict and tension among the happy people. Some wanted to build an even bigger Happiness Machine in order to deal with the crisis they were facing. Others began to see that the Happiness Machine was not the solution to their problems, but the cause. They wanted to reduce the size of the machine, or even dismantle it altogether. Some even began to wish that they could join together with the unhappy people to find solutions to the problem and build a new society together. (Dismantling Racism : The Continuing Challenge to White America, by Joseph R. Barndt).

Race

Race - A term used by the German anthropologist Bloomenbach toward the end of the 17th century to classify humans. Race became a cultural myth as it was used by dominant economic and cultural groups (US slave owners, for example) to further bolster their dominant ideologies. (See Ashley Montesquieu's Man's Most Dangerous Myth: Race.) For descriptive purposes, the idea of race has some merit in medical science, but in limited cases, and certainly no scientific standing to justify conceiving it as anything other than a social construction, not unlike community and national borders. See The Evolution of Racism.

Intellect and Racism

I guess that I was lucky growing up because I was raised in a "mixed race" household. It was "mixed race" intellectually, not biologically. And of course I know that there is no such thing as "races" in humanity, but that's not the point. Most people still believe that there are "human races."

I was lucky on the subject of learning about theories of race and racism because I lived among these two polar opposites. I could see that "race" has more to do with whom you believe than actually existing nature. Naturally, when I started studying sociology at the graduate level and learned about reification, 15th Century European History, Mendel, Darwin, Sir Francis Galton (Every Crime Scene Cleaner should know about Galton), well, theories of race became so much poor mythology. Sir Francis Galton, incidentally, was Darwin's cousin.

As the reader might guess, my definition of "race" is biological: The inheritance of fixed, physical characteristics acquired without mutation.

So, to define "race" by head shape (7), ear lobe shape, skin color, or otherwise, one must find that these characteristics remain fixed generation after generation in all times, all places. Otherwise, just what are racial theorists talking about? NOTHING, because race theories are basically gossip writ large. There are no race genes. Race is a creation of the intellect, not the body. Race exists as language exists, out there by consensus. This consensus feeds the intellect.

I know that I intermix "intellect" with "intellectual." The two are different. There are great intellects in history with bigoted ideas. So just because someone pursues "intellectual" subjects for the sake of their "intellect," this does not bestow upon them a superior understanding of nature. More, a great intellect may be ego-centric to the extreme, not a healthy arrangement.


To regress, this is what I'm getting at: My mother was and is beyond a theory of multiple human races. My father was, unfortunately, a stone-faced bigot and racist. His intellect was meager. His understanding of the world narrow. His education poor. So between my two gringo parents I was raised "mixed race," in an intellectual sense, not biological. I could easily hear the creation of "races" from my father's words and actions. "Race" was my father's creation in our home, not unlike WMDs in Iraq recently.

Now consider that Hitler's ruling elite were bigoted, racist, and oftentimes well educated, not to forget that they controlled the flow of ideas.

So, considering the "intellect" and theories of race, we can infer that big and little intellects have embraced race theories for one cause or another. It is important to recognize the idea of "races" as biologically separate human types arose in the 15th Century. Before then, there was only one biological race, as far as anyone knew.

I ramble. Here is a snapshot on racism, a by-product of race theories.

Racism - Racism says that "I am different from and therefore inherently (i.e. without even trying) better than you." Blumenbach provided the formula; the Dred Scott Court acknowledged it; Hitler perfected it." Racism arises from bigoted attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and actions related to theories of race and imposed on others because of their physical characteristics, language, or national origin. Theories of race and racism rely upon stereotypes and generalizations created from naive assumptions related to genetics, and social and cultural beliefs. Frederick Douglas proclaimed that race would be the biggest problem of the 20th century. (Little did he know how accurate he would be!)

They Live deserves a 10

They Live deserves a 10 for being a much needed statement and indictment of consumer society.

I could comment on the fist fight and other aspects of this film that help to outweigh its flunky aliens, but the metaphors are perfect for helping young viewers learn about the uses of propaganda as well as metaphors.

"WMDs" should be proof enough for anyone that has yet to connect the dots between reproducing society as each generation becomes more entrenched in the "consume and breed" cycle of propaganda, anyway. So the aliens were "flunky." The metaphors are wonderful!

It is ironic, to say the least, that the propagandists have mystified the growth of global warming and global dimming while feeding WMD lies and propaganda to us so successfully. It should not matter if the writer intended to create a bit of social realism through a Sci Fi film.

What the World Needs - Critical Thinking, not Politicians

Eddie Evans on critical thinking:

Critical Thinking begins with one's own assumptions and practices. Then, everything under the sun is open to criticism. Critical thinking does not mean to cast negative thoughts, slurs, outrages, insults, or otherwise detract form the course of unveiling accurate information.

Eddie on Science, Technology, Production's Fusion

Science, technology, and production fused together as the Industrial revolution and capital began growing in a grow-or-die embrace. As a result, inappropriate technologies flourish as an insatiable appetite for growth expands. Inappropriate technologies spread like plagues World-Wide while commercial propaganda replaces vital information to extend inappropriate technologies - - "breed and consume."

This "fusion" of science, technology, and production began in ernest as the Industrial Revolution followed in hot pursuit of the Enlightenment's drive away from the middle-ages, at least in Europe and Britain. At least, in part, it helped to open the gates of critical thinking. It helped to induce scientific ideas to apply inevitable efficiencies. The reproduction of society gave each generation more, not less, means of creating ecologically, inappropriate technologies. The drive for profit, expansion and consolidation of capital, ensured the spread of inappropriate technologies.

Here's one way to understand inappropriate technologies: Firing a canon ball to ring a doorbell is an inappropriate use of technology, not so unlike using nuclear energy to produce electricity. The canon in this example also represents an inappropriate technology, many will argue. "Its destiny is implied by its design."

Be that as it may, the canon's influence ends at the doorbell. However, the technologies of genetic engineering as well as nuclear, for another example, alter life forms. Like the canon, genetic engineering has a destiny in its design; unlike the cannon, genetic engineering's destiny influences human and non-human nature well beyond the perceivable future. Ecological problems grow exponentially because one in five non-indigenous (not native born) species, when introduced into a new habitat, dislodge indigenous (native born) species-populations.

Consequently, future generations may choose to ignore the canon's destiny and deny it a place in their society. But, they cannot choose to ignore genetic engineering's destiny or deny it a place in their society, since our generation embedded altered life-forrms in non-human nature. Ecological collapse now occurs as humanity fails to change its attitude toward nature. The same reasoning applies to other inappropriate technologies that risk life's ecological security, like nuclear energy.

Noam Chomsky on Propaganda

"The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts of class interest, to fulfill this role requires systematic propaganda." Noam Chomsky

Eddie Evans on the pH Scale and Cleaning

There are many reasons to understand the pH Scale. I won't go into them, but for below.


The motivation for sharing this blog grew from a conversation I shared with two men who were restoring an apartment after a drug bust. I was explaining that preparing a concrete floor for tile might be done with muriatic acid. I also explained that "neutralizing" the acid after it etched the concrete was important. Hence, the pH Scale came up when I tried to demystify the acid and neutralizer. If anyone is interested in a color coded version of this writing, click here.

If anyone reached this point, I'm impressed by their drive to stay focused in the midst of tedious verbiage. I promise to add more information about cleaning real soon.

The pH Scale is a way to measure the acidity or alkalinity of matter. This idea is all important to professional cleaning. When it comes to decontamination, deactivating, and simply lifting soil from fabrics, knowing about the pH level of a surfactant makes a difference.

If you recall the "number line" from high school algebra, there is a zero (0) in the middle of the line. Every number to the left of this line is a negative number. Every number to the right of this line is a positive number. It's kind of like turning on the hot water (left) to warm the cold water (right) when taking a warm shower. There is a blend of the two opposites, heat and cold to warm.

Well, the same kind of idea works on the pH Scale. Think of the number line's zero. It happens that pure water is like a zero on the pH Scale's number line. The difference is that the number line uses a zero (0) and the pH Scale uses a seven (7) for its middle point. So pure water is a 7 on the pH scale.

So, on the pH Scale, everything to the left of 7 is an acid. Everything on the right of 7 is an alkaline. And pure water exists right between acids and alkaline as a 7. (Did you know that lemon juice is on the acid of the of pH Scale? What side of the pH Scale do you think soda water will be on? What about Clorox Bleach and Dove dishwashing soap?) Where do you think the human body measures on the pH Scale? (stay tuned!)

Just like on the number line, mixing negatives (acids) with positives (alkalizes) will cancel something out.

Get this: If more acid is added to pure water than alkaline, the pure water will become more acidic. If more alkaline is added to pure water than acid, the water will become more alkaline.

If equal parts of acid and alkaline are added to pure water, then we should expect the two to cancel each other out. As a result, our pure water should remain the same on the pH Scale. But, what if the acid material is more powerful than the alkaline, or vice versa? What if we add one gallon of an acid like pure lemon juice to one gallon of pure water? Right, the pure water is now on the acid side of the pH Scale and no longer in the middle.

Now, what if we add one gallon of ocean water to one gallon of pure water? Right, the pure water becomes more alkaline.

And now, what if we add one gallon of pure lemon juice to one gallon of pure water, and then add one gallon of ocean water to this mix? As we might guess, the resulting mixture will be on the acidic side of the pH Scale. This is so because the one gallon of pure lemon juice is much more powerful than the one gallon of alkaline ocean water. What is in ocean water that places it on the alkaline side of the pH Scale? Right, salt. So salt is an alkaline, not an acid. What about pepper, where do you think that it will be found on the pH Scale? Right, on the acid side of the scale.

Again, when we mix a negative, acid, with a positive, alkaline, Acidic and basic are two extremes that describe a chemical property chemicals. Mixing acids and bases can cancel out or neutralize their extreme effects. A substance that is neither acidic nor basic is neutral.

The pH Scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The pH Scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic. A pH greater than 7 is basic, and we may call basic alkaline.

The pH Scale is logarithmic and as a result, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and 100 times (10 times 10) more acidic than pH 6. The same holds true for pH values above 7, each of which is ten times more alkaline (another way to say basic) than the next lower whole value. For example, pH 10 is ten times more alkaline than pH 9 and 100 times (10 times 10) more alkaline than pH 8.

Pure water is neutral. But when chemicals are mixed with water, the mixture can become either acidic or basic. Examples of acidic substances are vinegar and lemon juice. Lye, milk of magnesia, and ammonia are examples of basic substances.

What is blood's pH level? "The normal pH of human arterial blood is approximately 7.40 [normal range is 7.35-7.45), a weak alkaline solution. Blood that has a pH below 7.35 is acidic, while blood pH above 7.45 is alkaline." (From Wikipedia)

29 April 2007 and Getting On

I've forgotten how many blogs that I've started and then forgot. This one I'll try to keep.
- Business is so-so.
- The state of the nation appears worse than grim.
- The state of the Earth appears even worse, hard as it may seem.

So it goes.

We now have a litter of 3 kittens in my office closet fiercely protected by their wild mother. I had no idea that she was expecting when I took her in, pending a trip to the vet for that important fix.

I suppose it's just as easy to convince this mother cat to get fixed as it is to convince the World's dreamy-eyed couples to by-pass the glories of parent-hood, domesticated as they are.

According to a Wikipedia page, "As of 2006, the world population had reached 6.5 billion.^[1] In line with population projections . . . and continues to grow at rates that were unprecedented before the 20th century, although the rate of increase has almost halved since its peak, which was reached in 1963." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_population

Then there's the real issue, the global warming issue ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Global_warming), which is now said to be masked by "global dimming." Maybe this is why I gave up blogging so many times?

A random thought that happens to be true and somehow pertinent to this blog today:

I suspect that there's no such thing as a technological fix for social problems.

Next post, I'll write about something useful, like the pH Scale.

Eddie Evans
AKA: Im4wolf