Responses From People Who Want To Believe

Scientists don’t know everything.

But they seem to trust scientists for everything else, including putting their lives at risk every time they go to the doctor or getting on a plane.

You can’t prove it doesn’t exist/it’s not real.

Yet they don’t believe in invisible dragons, Harry Potter, or when I tell them I’m actually an alien god that came from another galaxy, even when they can't prove those things aren't real either.

You are close minded.

But they don’t seem to be particularly open minded when it comes to accepting their beliefs don't add up or have been debunked time after time or that have no evidence whatsoever or have simpler and more mundane explanations (e.i. placebo effect).

Everything is a world wide conspiracy/governments and corporations wants to kill them, make them sick and take their money. 

But they live regular happy lives full of luxuries (compared to the rest of the world), supporting all the evil companies that feed them, clothe them and keep them medicated, with the best health and longest life expectancy that humans have ever enjoyed since the arrival of Homo Sapiens.

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I try to plant the seed of reason in them, but I know it will be nearly impossible for anyone to let go of their beliefs. I used to have faith, and I know when you have it, you think it's an essential part of who you are, so thinking about getting rid of your faith is like thinking about getting rid of an arm. So I just let them know that it doesn’t matter, that I don’t care about what they believe in, that I like them because I think they are cool people, and that's all it matters. It's a little strange and disappointing, however, after having these types of conversations, when they stop responding my texts or are suddenly too busy to hang out for the next few years.

The Diamond In The Box & The "F" Word

A guy was holding a strange box that his uncle gave him long ago before he passed away. He said there was a huge diamond inside, but that no one knew how to open the box. I asked him if he had seen this diamond, and he said he hadn't, but he was certain there was a diamond inside because his uncle told him there was, and his uncle was a good honest man. Allegedly, it was a present that a noble king gave his family long ago as a sign of appreciation or something. He even had a copy of a certificate signed by this king that mentions the diamond in the box. I asked him if his uncle met this king, and he said he didn't, that no one from his family that he's talked to have, but that they all knew about the huge diamond in the box. 

That Time I Pulled A Mariah...

A while back I made the mistake of writing the lyrics to a new song the night before the show I was going to sing it for the first time. It was stupid arrogant of me to think I could pull that off. I'm not that good, I really have to do my homework to perform optimally.

Why Modern Dating Is So Fucked Up

 

I've always wondered how people are able to find dates/relationships so easily. It seems like the average single person doesn't stay single for more than a month before they find themselves in another relationship or are seeing someone pretty consistently. I see everyone coming in and out of relationships all the time, but how? It takes me forever to find someone I like, and even longer to find someone that I like that likes me back. Clearly, this can be easily explained if one or more of the following is true:

a) I'm very unappealing

b) I'm very annoying

c) I'm unrealistically picky

Basketball Pregnancy Photography

Perhaps I'm the only person in the world who doesn't like pregnancy photos, you know, the ones where women at an advanced stage of pregnancy holds her round belly to show how much love she has for the little creature that's been developing inside of her. Sometimes the father of the baby is included in the photos, which increases the cheese level by several notches. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird, but it's the same feeling I get when I see some of those family photo montages that were kinda popular in the late 80s and early 90s, remember those? There's something about photos of women holding their bellies like a basketball that bothers me to no end... but wait, did I say basketball? I think I have an idea on how to make pregnancy photo much more tolerable, to me at least! 

Let me know what you think!

Pokemon Go Is Cool...

  When I was a kid I lived in a little town called Guri in the middle of the Amazon jungle. From age 5, I was free to go outside and roam anywhere I wanted. And I did, I walked several blocks on my own or with my friend Sammy, a stray dog. Later on, when I was 7 or so, I would ride on my BMX bike, which allowed me to cover longer distances in less time. By then I had a few human friends.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Been trying to not post about things I dislike, but... I got to say this about a certain "artist" that came out of Houston, and her new "refreshing" album... 

Maybe Donald Trump Isn't That Bad...

 

I was just reading one of the top links on Reddit's frontpage titled "Donald Trump A ‘Threat To Peace And Prosperity,’ German Vice Chancellor Says". As always, I was interested to read the comments section because these type of articles sometimes generate discussions that are a little more rational than the typical dreadful Facebook political threads, which are mostly huge one-sided circlejerks. Even when Reddit is not immune to horde-mentality behavior, I find it easier to get closer to the truth by reading Reddit's discussions, where articles with sensationalist and misleading titles get scrutinized and the arguments often come with informative sources. In fact, many times I choose to only read the comments section, and that's exactly what I did.

The Hate For Bono

I'm not a huge U2/Bono fan, but I own Achtung Baby, Pop and a few other U2 albums. I recognize that Bono sometimes seems a little bit of a megalomaniac and somewhat narcissistic, although, not to the degree most people see him. It's quite common to hear people criticizing Bono very harshly, like they are disgusted by what he does or even by his existence. This is particularly true when discussing any type of activism that he's been involved with. I've read all kinds of things, from people saying he should just stick to music to people wishing for his death. People's criticism of Bono is pretty rough, but in my opinion, a bit unfair.  

How To Be Considerate: Making Plans With Other People

• When you make plans with other people, make sure you don't have anything going on that day and time.
• Try to stick with the plans you've made, don't change the plans unless it's absolutely necessary.
• Changing or cancelling plans last minute is a big no-no. Remember that other people's time is as important as yours. Cancelling plans last minute will most likely result in wasting people's time, and therefore, it's very rude. Only under very extraordinary circumstances this is acceptable. Unless you don't really care about the other person (which doesn't make it acceptable, but who cares, right?), but if that was the case, then you shouldn't be making plans with that person in the first place.
• If you decide to change/cancel plans anyway, communicate this to the other person as soon as you have made that decision. Don't wait until the other person asks you about the plans.
• If you discover that something more fun is going on at the same time, resist temptation as much as you can, remember to put yourself in the shoes of the people you made plans with. Changing plans to do something more fun, especially if it's done last minute, is particularly hurtful, rude, and selfish. Whether you mean it or not, the message you're sending is that you don't care or respect the people you made plans with.
• If you have already canceled plans with someone before and this is a second (or third) time making plans with that person, be grateful and be careful. If you have read this far, then you should know that changing plans, changing plans last minute, or changing plans last minute to do something more fun, after a second or third attempt, is beyond hurtful and insulting. Considerate people avoid hurting other people, especially the ones who have been nice to us. Not hurting others is one of our most important goals.
• If you decide to change plans and you DO care about the people you made plans with, remember to always apologize properly. A proper apology has three parts: 

1. Say that you're sorry (if you're a considerate person you should feel something unpleasant inside, at least a slight discomfort, so this step shouldn't be too hard to remember).
2. Take responsibility for your actions, don't blame others, it's OK to accept our faults, no one is perfect.  And...
3. Try to make up for your fault. In our case, you should take it upon yourself to re-schedule the plans, that way the other person knows that you really care about them and that you actually do want to go through the plans that you just canceled. Ask the other person when they are available and express your desire to go through the plans, and if you can, expressing a little bit of remorse for having to changed plans and wasting their time is a good sign that you care about them.

• If this is the second time that you have canceled or changed plans with someone, apologize again, and properly. If this is a third time, then properly apologize once again. Basically, every time you actions hurt, waste someone's time, or offend other people, you should apologize properly. Take in mind that apologizing properly means less and less each time. By itself, it won't show the other person that you appreciate or care about them if you are not able to "make it better" or make up for your fault(s).
• If the other person is upset at you, it's OK, it's a natural human reaction when people get hurt, offended or taken for granted. Don't make the mistake to take it personal, be understanding. The other person, if they are still talking to you, probably just wants to go through the plans you made together but feels very frustrated and/or hurt. Don't avoid them, on the contrary, you should be the person reaching out to them. Letting them know that you are sorry (for having hurt them) and about your desire to go through the plans could help them feel better.
• If you're going through an extraordinary situation that justifies all the cancellations and offenses, let them know about it right away (remember they can't read your mind). If you cannot disclose this information, then at least let them know that your situation is extraordinary, reaffirm that you are sorry, and try to go through the plans again in the near future, if this is possible and if the other person hasn't given up on you by then. 

I hope this step-by-step guide helps you to be a better, kinder, caring person. 

The Positive Message Of Your Fake Quotes

I consider myself a lover of the truth, and when I say the truth, I don't mean my truth, but the raw unadulterated harsh truth. I'm aware that it could be very challenging to not have any kind of bias, in fact, it's probably impossible, but I do my best to be as neutral as possible. At the same time, I find it important to stop the dissemination of misinformation whenever I can, not only to stop incorrect data from spreading, but because sometimes the consequences that come with it can greatly affect our lives, and under certain circumstances, they could even be lethal. 

Demand Legal Cocaine Now!

They killed Pablo Escobar, caught Carlos Lehder, sent the army to remove Noriega from Panama, imprisoned and killed a million narcs, sprayed the coca plantations fields, fought a war with the guerrilla in Colombia, tightened security at the border, filled the coast with guards on boats, spent billions (or trillions) in intelligence, weapons and personnel, yet the price of cocaine today is about 1/6th of what it was in 1983. This is despite all the tons of coke they intercept and the steady demand. This could be for a few reasons, but the most obvious is that every year more drugs get smuggled than the previous year. 

Twitter Is Dead And Has Been Dead For Years

 

 

This is a Facebook conversation I just had on a post linking to an article titled "Why Twitter’s Dying (And What You Can Learn From It)". I'm just going to copy/paste what I wrote with all the broken English, bad grammar, and poorly written sentences, just because I don't feel like fixing it. Well, maybe I'll fix it tomorrow when I read it again and start thinking about how idiotic and uneducated I sound, but right at this moment I don't care....

 

Twilight Zone Moral Dilemma With a Twist

I just thought about this moral dilemma which is inspired in one of the old Twilight Zone episodes I watched as a kid:

Someone knocks at your door. They tell you they have something for you. It's a glass box with a red button inside. They tell you that you will get one million dollars (or X amount, it doesn't matter, really) if you decide to open the box and press the button. That's all you have to do get the money. Of course, you're suspicious, how can you get so much money by just pressing that button, so you ask if something will happen to you if you press the button, and they say that nothing will happen to you by pressing the button. However, they say, if you decide to press the button, a person you don't know will die. So you'll be responsible for the death of one person, that you don't know and it's not related to you whatsoever, if you press the button, but you'll get the money. 

First World Vampire Problems

 

 

I've always thought that being a vampire would be cool, mainly because they are immortal and goth chicks like them, and all those awesome superpowers are a nice bonus, but I've never thought about how inconvenient is their inability to see their own reflection. If you think about it for a minute, this is not as unimportant as it seems to be.

Confederate Shame and WTFness

"The American Civil War, widely known in the United States as simply the Civil War as well as other sectional names, was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865 to determine the survival of the Union or independence for the Confederacy. Among the 34 states in January 1861, seven Southern slave states individually declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy, often simply called the South, grew to include eleven states, and although they claimed thirteen states and additional western territories, the Confederacy was never diplomatically recognized by a foreign country. The states that remained loyal and did not declare secession were known as the Union or the North. The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. After four years of combat, which left over 600,000 Union and Confederate soldiers dead and destroyed much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed and slavery was abolished. Then began the Reconstruction and the processes of restoring national unity and guaranteeing civil rights to the freed slaves."