History is written by the victors, not who's right.

After years of taking news reports, history books, and magazine articles at face value, I've come to realize that everyone has an agenda, and the truth, the real story, is very difficult find. There are two sides to every story, and until you hear both sides, you are a fool to try to determine what the truth is. The problem is, the part of history we read about and see on TV and hear tales of, is our side of the story. Facts are facts, but a good story teller can use those facts to tell whatever story they want.
I'll give you an example. It comes from an event in history that everyone already knows. In world war II, Japan was at war with the united states of America. Why Japan attacked the USA in the first place is another topic, and is irrelevant to the point I'd like to make. The USA knew an all out assault on Japan could take years, and could feasibly be a war they would never win. The death toll was already stacking up, and as the Japanese put it, "the americans don't have the stomach for high casualties". The USA needed a way to win, without losing their own troops. The USA started bombing Japan heavily in 1944. They targeted mainly Tokyo at first, which was one of Japans most densely populated cities. Some of the "targets" were Urban areas, where the main target was civilians. Civilians, who posed no threat to the USA, and who could have been quite possibly against the war. On March 9 1945 over 300 bombers were launched to drop 1700 tonnes of incendiary bombs on Tokyo. 16 square miles were burnt to nothing and over 100,000 people were killed. Later in the year, the USA dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and then another on Nagasaki, killing another 200,000 people in major city centres, one of which had no military relevance.
Now we all know that the Americans saved many lives dropping those bombs. They stopped the war, and there was no more killing. But who gave them the ok to kill 300,000 civilians in order to save some american soldiers? Aren't the soldiers the ones that sign up to fight, knowing about the possibility of death while serving their country? Do the Japanese history books talk of how great the Americans were for testing nuclear weapons on them? Did you know that after the nukes were dropped, it rained. Thousands of people had been without water for many hours and were in dyer need of water, so they drank the rain water, and everyone who did, died of radiation poisoning. And the Americans are good guys? It kind of sounds like America was in a fist fight with someone they might lose to, were in pain from taking a couple of blows, and decided to pull a gun and kill their opponent.
Americans can't handle seeing it's citizens being hurt or killed. They were utterly devastated after sept 11, they continue to be horrified by the 6000+ troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the first thing you hear about when there is a major international disaster is how many Americans were there and lost their lives. But who gives a flying fuck about the 300,000 civilians dead in Japan, or the estimated 150,000 people killed in Iraq thanks to the Americans since 2003. It's nice to see that Americans care so much about their brethren, but disturbing to see they care so little about everyone else.
Would intentionally targeting, and killing thousands of civilians, not be considered an act of terrorism? Funny how when you are convinced you are the good guy, you can do no wrong, and killing thousands of human beings can make you a hero, but anyone that does the same thing, and doesn't share your point of views is a terrorist. Very rarely does one party think they are the bad guy. After years of brainwashing and propaganda, Hitler had millions of people convinced in the "superior being" bullshit and had millions of people killed under his order. The people serving Hitler were convinced they were doing the right thing, and that they were the good guys, in the same way Americans are brainwashed into believing killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians was a good thing. Sometimes people just tell you what you want to hear so they can sell you their story.
Everyone does what they do for a reason. They usually think that reason is just and true. If they were to write history, they would have reasoning and explanations for their logic, but others might see it in a very different way. The only way to know who was right, or to at least try to fully understand the scenario, is to hear both sides. In the western world, we are only given one side. The side written by us. Important facts are left out if they don't conform to our story. Happenings are blown out of proportion, or down played depending how they coincide with our side of the story. The fact of the matter is, millions upon millions of people have been killed because of these stories. There is always only one true story, but it can be told many different ways. It seems like a waste that so many people have lost their lives because two people have a deferring opinion of the same story. I guess it's true that if you say a lie enough times it becomes truth.
Maybe it's time for you to have an opinion for yourself instead of repeating someone else's.

2013 going on 1950

You know what really grinds my gears? The continued intolerance towards gays by the government. In a time where being politically correct is a necessity to be accepted by society, somehow this non politically correctness is still alive and well. I am a firm believer that political correctness has gone too far, and is robbing us of our right to free speech, our individualism, and so many good jokes. In Canada, political correctness even trumps laws now. An east Indian no longer needs to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle on the street. A law that has been in place for many years, designed to save lives. But this law can now be broken if it is against your religion to wear a helmet. God forbid we step on religion for human safety. The point I'm try to make is that the government will do anything and everything, including rewriting laws, to avoid offending anyone. And yet it is still ok to deny homosexuals the same basic rights as heterosexuals?
I've lost track of what the laws are in Canada, but I know in the states there are still places where gays can not marry. I understand the bible thumping, inbreeders objection, that the bible clearly states marriage is the union of a man and a women, and if churches refuse to marry gays, so be it. The KKK still gather to hate everything not white, why can't cultist churches preach what they choose as well? It is a private organization. But the fact that the government still refuses to recognize a gay marriage is baffling. Why not take away their right to vote, and make them ride at the back of the bus? I can see this intolerance back when misinformation was rampant. You had government officials, and news broadcasters stating that African Americans had smaller brains than white people and they were not much more than monkeys. But all that BS was debunked, and people stopped listening to the racists and made a decision for themselves. Now it seems times have gotten better, there's less misinformation, people are more accepting, and it's largely do to the fact that the government has gone towards tolerance and being more politically correct. The government has wised up and realized offending people loses you votes. The thing is, a lot of people listen to their government, some a little too much. If the government says a gay marriage isn't equal to a straight marriage, the simpletons, in the bible belt will believe it. So why is the government still saying it? Well it's simple, there are more red neck, homophobes than there are gays, and they would rather offend less people, so they can get more votes. The problem is, it's a catch 22. The Red necks will never stop hating gays if the government says it's ok to do so.
The only easy solution I can see is to give both sides what they want. Let the child molesting priests, marry the red necks to their cousins "in the name of the lord" and let the gays get married in the name of the government. I can't stand the ignorance and intolerance of religion, so let them have the "in gods eyes" marriage, but allow married gays to have all of the legal right and benefits of a straight married couple.
It's 2013. The fact that there is any one body of people that is discriminated against, or not treated equally by the government baffles me. The people that went through the racism of the 50s and sexism of, well always, look back and shake their heads. The sad thing is, they had an excuse of misinformation. They were lied to by their officials. What's our excuse? We know better. I'm shaking my head now.

Are we the 1%

So I often think about how the worlds financial situation works. Who has money, who does't, and why. There are lots of talks about how more and more of the worlds wealth is being owned by a smaller and smaller percentage of the population. This seems to be of major concern for a lot of people. I guess as the rich get richer, it means they gain more control, and more power over the rest of the people. Well good news! I know how it's happening, why it's happening, who's doing it, and how to stop it!
Why it's happening, is because the 99% are dumb. Who's doing it is you. How it's happening is simple, you are giving your money to the 1% by choice. How to stop it...well that's the thing, you don't want to.
Who are the 1%? The richest of the rich? CEOs of big companies? The big oil tycoons around the world? The owners of the big world banks? Well lets look at those three, and see how they ended up with so much money.

Banks: Lets start with the big wigs at the top of the banking world. We always here how many billions of dollars each big bank makes each quarter. If I was the owner or CEO of one of those banks, those profits would go to me, that's how capitalism works right? Now how did they make so much money? Well back not so many years ago, there were no credit cards, no lines of credit, no financing your new TV, furniture, and 24" rims for your escalade. People saved up and bought stuff. You might have a mortgage, but other than that, you were debt free. People, and by people, I mean you, demanded a way to have shit now. Not in 3 years, when I can afford it, you want it now. So you have a car loan, a line of credit, a credit card, and a loan on pretty much anything you've ever bought that was over $500. And it's great isn't it! You can have all the things you want, as long as you can make your monthly payments! Here's the problem, you are paying 3% on your $30,000 car loan, 7% on your $5000 line of credit, 19% on you $1500 mastercard bill, and 6% on that lovely $3500 living room set, and don't forget your $350,000 mortgage at 3.5%. Now, I don't think this is far fetched. I think a lot of people have 3 credit cards, maxed out, their line of credit tapped out to $25,000, a $50,000 car to make payments on, and a far larger mortgage, but even at those lower numbers, you're paying $7500 a year in interest. $7500 per year, per person...where do the banks get their money? You give it to them. They didn't sell you the new car, or tell you to buy a bigger house, or go on that vacation. You wanted it, and you wanted it now. The bank provided you a way to have it now. Are they evil for doing that?  Remember how happy you were when the bank approved you to buy your shit! You loved the bank that day, but hate them when you find out how rich you've made those same people. You don't need most of the stuff you are paying interest on, and yet you are willing to sign a huge part of your pay cheque to the banks each month to have it. Everything comes at a cost, the banks never said it was free or tried to hide the fact that there is a fee to have it now.

CEOs and owners of large companies: Lets take one company, a car company, any one will do. Cars used to be cheaper. I know someone that paid $53,000 for a Hyundai minivan in 2008. $53,000 for a korean minivan, that is now worth probably $15,000. Every year we insist that our cars are a bit roomier, have a bit more power, have a few more gadgets, and are a bit safer. No one wants to buy a car that has been the same for 8 years, they want everyone to know, they have the new model, and yes, it was more expensive! People are constantly buying new cars, and they aren't cheap. Used cars are worth next to nothing, because no one wants last years model, it's not cool. So that mean resale is terrible on the $53,000 minivan you just bought. Could you keep driving your current car longer than you will? Yes, could you due without the park assist, SatNav, leather interior? Yes, but you won't. You don't care about the fact that you are signing $53,000 away to car company, as long as it looks cool, and your neighbours will be envious. Car companies have grown immensely, in the last 30-40 years. Households usually have at least 2 cars now, it used to be one. People want a new car every 4 or 5 years, not 10 or 15 years. And cars are far more complicated, and expensive to make. Again, you demanded the cars, why would the car companies say no? You told them what you want, they provided it, you were more than happy to stuff your money in their pockets.

Big oil: This one is pretty cut and dry. You demand it. You drive large, over powered tanks getting terrible gas mileage. You drive all over the place unnecessarily. You don't think twice about driving 3 blocks, or even just going for a drive for fun, or to get away. You take trips on huge fuel sucking planes. You buy food that came from china. Fuel is cheap, for now. People might say it isn't cheap, but still drive a gas pig. It can't be that bad if 12 MPG isn't a concern to you. When you have to think twice before driving everywhere and anywhere, then gas is at a realistic price. Again, you demand gasoline. You demand the right to drive wherever, whenever you want, and millions upon millions of people do the same every day. The pump at the price is set. You know where the money goes, straight to the 1%, but you don't even think about it, as long as you don't have to give up you car.

It all comes down to supply and demand. You asked for it, they provided exactly what you asked for, and now you hate them for it. Everyone is getting exactly what they want, at least in the western world. We drive $53,000 mini vans, live in huge, overkill houses, pay $6 a day for a coffee, have closets full of clothes, have enough food that we can throw most of it away, have a tv in 3 different rooms of the house, have a different pair of shoes for each occasion, get a new $400 phone every year, and yet complain about everything. If people from 1950s could see they way we live right now, they would think that we are all filthy rich. The amount of wasted money in astounding. The crap that we buy, that we don't need to survive in mind boggling. How would you explain to someone from 1950 that yes, my car was $50,000, yes it has a TV in the dash, and I spend $60 a month so that I can talk on my phone anywhere, but I'm poor.

Sorry 99%, but most of you have nothing to complain about and need to realize, you are the reason for your own complains.

You stink

Well I know I said my next post would be about smokers, so I'll just do a quick vent about them before I go on to what I really want to talk about. To all the smokers, the world is not your ashtray. A friend of mine was driving along the freeway last summer, when he noticed a large amount of smoke up ahead. The dry grass, in the centre divider of the freeway was on fire. A good samaritan had pulled over already, and luckily had a fire extinguisher on board. My friend and the good samaritan managed to get the fire out before it became a serious problem. We've all seen the black, torched grass on the sides of highways, and every year we hear on the news about the forest fires that were started by a cigarette.
I'm just trying to get into a smokers head. You're driving down the road, listening to country music, smoking, and your cigarette is almost finished, should you put it in the ashtray, where it belongs, or throw your disgusting, slobber covered butt into the world, for someone else to deal with? Well if you put it in your ashtray, you might have to vacuum it out the next time you clean your car, which sounds like a lot of work. You might as well throw it out the window, maybe you can start a fire, or at the very least have all of the great, healthy toxins from the cigarette, be washed out of the butt the next time it rains, and run into our creaks and streams. Yum.
You are not more important than anyone else in the world. No one wants to pick up your trash, and no one wants to put out your fire. Also no one wants to pay your medical bill when you develop lung, mouth, and throat cancer or any of the other great health problem that come with smoking. No one wants to smell you, at work, on the bus, in the store, or at home. And no one wants to have our tax dollars go to your welfare cheque. Lets face it, smoking isn't cheap, and yet the only people I see smoking are poor people. Maybe they are poor because they smoke, maybe they smoke because they are poor, or maybe, they smoke because they are idiots, which would also explain why they are poor, either way, I bet you could find a better way to spend your money.