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OBAMA WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE!
posted on: 2009-10-09 at 8:40:00 AM
President Obama just gave his speech for his winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I woke up early, and just caught the news on the radio. Apparently, the White House was shocked by this news as well. The prize was awarded for the following:
"For his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"
My heart swelled as I heard the news, and then a few minutes later, heard his speech. What a beautiful gesture. He did not accept the award for "his actions," but instead for the people of the world who share the same fundamental view that world peace IS WORTH STRIVING FOR -- and that nuclear weapons and global warming are a threat to our children and our children's children.
AMEN, BROTHER.
I text-messaged most of my friends shortly after hearing the news, and immediately got a handful of responses -- most saying the same thing:
"Why did he get that? He hasn't done anything.."
LONG SIGH.
It's clear to me that the American press is ugly, biased and completely hallow. Most people see their immediate problems -- and the press (needing their revenue) use the cheap but usually-successful SCARE TACTIC routine to propagate the news. It's always easier to make a point by scaring someone than having an intelligent discussion.
WAKE UP PEOPLE.
So here's what I don't get. Both George Bushes spend trillions of dollars to start global fights against terrorism. To me, that's an glaringly obvious thing. MONEY, PEOPLE and COUNTRIES are on the chopping block. Sure, some action was necessary. But -- what good have these wars done for us? Well -- we haven't had an international terrorist strike in about a decade .. but .. haven't we also not had one in the prior forty years? I mean .. REALLY.
(this is another thread... moving along)
Obama is trying to mend the wounds of America's greed and unfounded prowess. I'm glad he's sticking up for the peace-seeking and intelligently thoughtful people out there.
Sorry. Another political blog. And this time I'm not even going to re-edit this. SO THERE!
I haven't taken my Adderall yet today.
posted by Carl
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Oliver's Latest Doctor's Visit
posted on: 2009-09-14 at 4:57:00 PM
I'll start with the "worst" news. Oliver's pediatrician has referred Angie and I to a specialist to watch Oliver's emotional / social behaviors and diagnose whether or not he is within the autism spectrum. His behaviors are normal for the most part -- except for his speech and possibly his ability to include others in activities.
Our doctor asked if Oliver engages Angie and I in certain ways (like, does he point to something and engage us in what he wants to do). Angie and I had differing answers on some of the questions -- clearly there was some confusion as to his current status. I feel sick inside because sitting there in the doctors' office it became clear that Angie and I weren't able to agree on our perception of how Oliver is doing.
I always like to see "the bright side" and Angie often looks for something to worry about (neither are wrong or bad .. I'm just observing our bias when it comes to how we both identify things). But, I feel that I might have been overconfident this whole time. I don't feel like "a bad father," but I feel very guilty for being as passive about possible problems as I have been.
So, that being said, I owe it to our marriage, to Oliver and to Angie to be more detail-oriented and outwardly concerned about Oliver's health. I think sometimes Angie (and others) don't realize how concerned I really am. This last doctor's visit has really punched a blow to me emotionally.
However, I am NOT worried about Oliver. The reality is that Oliver is "normal" and is only showing slight signs of possible autism. There is a good chance that once we go through with the "occupational therapy" that his status might be that he's not autistic.
If he does fall into the autism spectrum, I will not let that worry me whatsoever. I will adjust my parenting as necessary and make sure he has everything he needs to thrive and be happy. No matter the outcome, the onus is on us. I love every last strand in his DNA -- even the ones that aren't "normal."
I've been reading up on the autism spectrum and, in a way, I get the feeling that a lot of the current diagnosis are more of the result of the roles that parents play as much as it is an ingrained "problem" in the child. There is no question in my mind that I would have been diagnosed to be within the current spectrum when I was growing up (back then, the spectrum was much smaller). I have been officially diagnosed with adult ADHD and take a very high dose of Adderall to deal with that (and HOOO BOY has that helped). Also, during my six-month long diagnosis, the specialist working with me said that I show symptoms of borderline Asperger's syndrome. So, technically I am within the spectrum right now -- and although the ADHD was very tough to deal with growing up, I turned out just fine (heh).
posted by Carl
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Social Networks...
posted on: 2009-09-10 at 8:43:00 AM
But blogging in the form of one's homepage is a lot like baking a pie. Pies are not free, they require ingredients, time to prepare, time to bake and then you have to hope that you and your friends like your pie. And moreover, it takes considerable effort to make habit of eating your pies a daily / weekly habit when there's free, endless snacks out there to nibble on. And these "snacks" are made by much more important people than I. Celebrities, politicians, and folks with much edgier, funnier, and grammatically correct-ier things to say make their own pies -- but free, and tiny, and non-committal.
So do I like Twitter? YES. I love Twitter. I love Facebook! They have their places in the cyberverse (is that what they call it?). But do I think that 140 characters is too little to make colorful and meaningful gestures.
I like pie. I like free snacks too, but I like pie more.
So. This is both a reminder to self to START BLOGGING MORE. And also a request that, if you read this sentence, you pledge to check back from time to time. I mean -- I'm no Shaq. But gosh darn it -- I've had this homepage since 1996 -- and in some form or another, have been blogging on it since then. I am a curmudgeon and will keep being slightly self-conscious and also awesome.
Who's in?
posted by Carl
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10 Things I Need to Say
posted on: 2009-07-25 at 9:32:00 AM
Get as close to the actual price without going over
So it would behoove you to bid as low as possible without undercutting your chances by bidding below somebody else's bid -- yet for decades, dolts get on this show and completely fuck up their chances of winning anything!
Example: Say you think the item up for bids is worth $1250 and you are the last one bidding.
contestant #1 bids $1000
contestant #2 bids $1200
contestant #3 bids $1350
YOU WOULD LOGICALLY BID $1201! NOT $1250! That increases your chances of your bid winning by an order of magnitude! SIMPLE MATH.
2) People I cannot stand part 1:
Oprah Winfrey (can you believe I had to google her to get the name spelled right?) -- Her show is the most unimpressive pile of drivel I have ever seen. She prospects womens' lack of mental judgement by giving them stupid shit they don't need to stroke their egos and then rile them up by inviting attractive male cooks to make some useless dish on stage. News flash: Her show is merely a front to sell crap out of her store that nobody needs! Oprah uses the guise as leader and philathrapist to pedal her own profit-whoring stupid shit. What's worse? She uses her own inability to sustain her weight for EVEN MORE PROFIT!
Oprah: Why not just cut to the chase and start abusing meth-anphetymine? And then when you realize your a fucking fat meth-head, sell more magazines telling people about your struggles.
3) Why do people obey metered on-ramps lights but fail to obey lights at intersections? Think about this for a minute. If you run the red-light on a metered on-ramp, will a cop REALLY pull you over on the busy freeway during rush-hour to cite you for failing to wait four seconds for the next light? Answer: NO! (where would the cop even park to watch the infractions occur).
People: If you're in a hurry, I say JUMP the metered on-ramp light and then drive safely the rest of the way. If enough people catch on, you'd save yourself a good 10 - 15 minutes!
4) Stuff is never "on sale." Stuff sells for exactly what people will buy it for. The value in what you buy is exactly the amount that you paid for it. Stop acting like you got such a good fucking deal.
5) I've heard a LOT of people say things like "Obama needs to be more careful than most presidents because he's black." My response has always been: "No, Obama needs to be more careful because HE IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." Even if you believe the statement, the simple act of communicating that is perpetuating racist attitudes.
6) Those pictures in your MySpace profile don't look anything like you.
7) I don't mind elderly people taking a long time to go about their daily business in public -- I really don't -- but I do mind when they decide to take up THE ENTIRE FUCKING AISLE.
Trying to pass old people in the store is an artform that even the most seasoned shoppers have trouble mastering. It always starts with the polite "following" stride which is awkward enough trying to find the footing as to not look like a goon -- but it's that attempt to pass moment when FAIL is served.
Edna, when you're picking out which brand cotton-balls are the better value, please confine your search to the width of no more than three normal humans. I would like to get my cart passed your old-person vehicular camp-site -- thank you.
8) Fact: almost every public building has computers and printers. You REALLY don't have to stencil out individual letters, apply them at varying angles against sheets of differently-colored contruction paper and extenuate them glitter and streamers. We get the idea -- but it's UGLY AS FUCK.
9) All generalizations are false.
10) Twitter is a sensation. Just like SixDegrees, Hi5, Friendster, and Orkut all were. Sure, Twitter is changing things right now -- but as the old saying goes, "the more things change, the more they stay the same.." Eventually, we'll all be tired of squeezing our daily lives into little 140 character capsules. I'll even go far as to say that we might look back at this latest trend in ten years and laugh at how ridiculous things got...
But I've been wrong before.
posted by Carl
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Twitter Ruined Me
posted on: 2009-02-08 at 8:33:00 PM
There was once a time where this very website, carlscripter.com was actually being tracked by Alexa -- but in the past few months, I've been scraping the bottom as the 18,614,403th most viewed website in America. AND I KNOW WHY, I don't update my blog. Also, the web in general has changed. If I'm going to keep carlscripter.com -- I need to update it all the time.
I'm on the edge. Should I let this site go and migrate my digital life to Facebook, Twitter, etc? Or should I continue being an old curmudgeon and yell violently in the wind knowing that the battle has been lost years ago?
Blah. I feel like shit. I was doing well for months now. Last night, I had a wonderful dinner with family -- and even though Oliver was running a slight fever, he seemed in good spirits. Then around 10pm, as I was reading a book in bed, that "little tickle" in my throat turned into a raging, throbbing scratchy pain. I fell asleep and then woke up around 3am to intense involuntary swallowing as my body was trying to douse the fire in my throat. Sleep was not possible sense then. I stayed awake and headed to Freddy's to get medicine as soon as they opened.
Yeah -- house full of sick Scripters now. Bleh.
posted by Carl
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