I am the 1.42857143x10^-10%

I am the 1.42857143x10^-10%
I am only one person out of just over seven billion people on this planet. I am one man, I have one voice, this is my opinion coming out of my lips as a result of my thoughts. I do not claim that these words going through your eyes into your head are anyone else's but my own.

I would write this down on one of those fandangled pieces of paper and hold it up in-front of a camera, but that is more effort than I have been known to give.
I've been seeing lot's of pictures of people holding up those pieces of paper. Some explain their life story and state that they belong to the 99%. Knowing percentages, this is highly probable that they belong to a 99% rather than a 1%.
There are others that write their life story and state how the others are simply not trying hard enough, because there are bountiful opportunities out there to get what you desire.
This is a mockery of the gesture that is being shown, and shows ignorance of what the people who claim they are the 99% are actually protesting about.

From what I have read, what I have seen, and what I have interpreted, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the point they are protesting is not the lack of jobs, though that is a symptom of what they are complaining about, it's the disproportionate wealth between the '1%' as they are called, the extremely wealthy, and the '99%' as the movement calls themselves, the 'average citizen'. Rich people are rich yes, they do things that make them rich and they deserve being rich. Rich people being rich is proportionate wealth. This is disproportionate wealth, where the rich have so much money they can influence everything.

As this is being written, the Occupy Wall Street Movement is being violently evicted by the police, who are caving in after lots and lots of pressure from local businesses. This is New York, local businesses are very large corporations. This is one example of how the 1% (I am only continuing to refer to them as such because it is much easier to write than 'the very rich people', even if it is not 100% accurate) can influence things.
They can influence America's laws by sending congressmen, via lobbyists, the message "Hey.. hey you.. yes you... you see this bill? If you vote in favor/vote against this bill some not-entirely-related third party will make a very generous donation to your campaign for when you are running to be re-elected. You want that.. don't you?".

While what happens in America may not be that important, what laws pass over there can have an impact on New Zealander's daily lives, because a lot of the internet resides in America. Any privacy laws, any censorship laws, any laws regarding the internet will effect any site that resides in the US borders, which are a lot of the sites we go to in our day to day lives. Google, YouTube, Twitter, FaceBook, those would be affected by those laws.
Even if it isn't related to the internet, a big law being adopted by America, they could easily pressure smaller nations like us to adopt the same policy.
Though that hasn't always worked in the past, especially where New Zealanders where strongly against (*cough*nuclearpower*cough), it doesn't mean it can't work, especially if the majority of the population do not know what is wrong with the law.

Looking over what I have written, I am glad I did not write it on a piece of paper and hold it up to a camera, that would have to be a f**king long piece of paper.
Yes I know I can swear, but writing f**k makes me feel better.

Anyway, my point is this.
Percentages do not matter. What matters is what you think as a person, and you need to take responsibility of what you think and how you express it.
I am 1.42857143x10^-10% of the population, you are 1.42857143x10^-10% of the population. The numbers don't matter by themselves, but what matters is how they add up.

Wait, crap, the percentage is meant to go at the end of the message right? That's how the people holding the paper up do it?
Shit.

If you need more information to help make up your mind:
Here is a video on why economic inequality is a bad thing
This is what Occupy Wall Street wants to fix.


Here are some random thoughts:
SCIENCE.
Are they seriously sending in bulldozers into Liberty Square?
I should probably have gotten around to finishing that title clip for that L4D2 footage...
I'm a lazy f**k.
itch itch itch


Best of luck to all of you.

Like a Brick.

Gah.
Once again, a thought has entered my head.
Not an unusual happening in itself, since it is quite a common thought for me, but this time it had some extra implications with it that hit my head like a brick, leaving me a bit dazed while I did the dishes.
This thought will need quite a lot of explaining, and I will have no way of assuring you understand it.  It will be vaguely complex, and the English language is not suited to handle it.

It's about time travel.


Sometime, later in life, I go back in time.
I go back in time to say 5 years ago from today.
I would not appear as an older man in that time, I would have my thoughts, my consciousness, my experiences, everything that makes myself that is not strictly physical me, put into a younger version of myself.
So let's say for an example I went back in time from when I was 20, to when I was 10.
I would then become a 10 year old who has all the knowledge, memories, personality, experiences, essentially exactly the same person, as that 20 year old.

That's the idea I go back to all the time, it's a fun one. Trying to convince people I really do know future events because I experienced them :P
You've understood all this? Good.
Here comes the tricky bit.

From now on, when I say "10 year old me", I mean the 20 year old who went back in time to inhabit the 10 year old's body.
Imagine the 10 year old me meets an old friend. The 20 year old knew this friend for years, but since he has gone back in time this is the first time the friend has ever met him.
He manages to convince this friend that he has come from the future, and is inhabiting the younger man's body.
They live a long and happy life, as good friends, knowing the pitfalls of the future (well, for up to 10 years in the future anyway).
Then at the end of their lifespan, the FRIEND goes back in time to inhabit their younger self's body (let's say a 10 year old again).
Now since the friend's entire life was that of which the 20 year old me had gone back in time, the friend would go back in time to meet the 10-year old me fresh out of time travel.
The 10 year old me remembers his 20 years of life, the time-traveled friend remembers their entire life spent together.
The 10 year old me easily convinces the friend of his time-travel, the friend then reveals that they TOO had time-traveled.
The 10 year old me then discovers the implication that had me so dazed while doing the dishes.
The friend spent, let's say 80, years of their life, with the 10 year old me.
He can never live that life, because it has already happened, and because the friend went back in-time, it never will happen.
The friend will have 80 years of memory of the 10 year old me, memories that the 10 year old me will NEVER HAVE.
He discovers that he spent a whole ENTIRE LIFE with this person, a life that he will NEVER REMEMBER, NEVER EXPERIENCE, and NEVER KNOW.

That would be such a painful realisation.
It would be just horrible.

And now for some random thoughts:
I should probably have a shower
I should probably brush my teeth
I should probably squirt some stuff up my nose
I want to make a Minecraft Adventure Map.
According to someone who did a TED Talk, Science has discovered that 8 hugs a day leads to a happier life.
I dislike pineapple.

I study The Science

Recently I had a thunk about religious education in schools.
This isn't a big issue here in New Zealand, well, it's a non-existant issue since we don't really have any (that I'm aware of).
But I've heard that there are lots of issues with it over in America. Issues that have, in part, spawned the creation of such group as Pastafarianism, the religion that believes that there is a Flying Spaghetti Monster that accidentally created the universe while drunk. Or something to that effect.
The existance of that group demonstrates the importance of not teaching religious beliefs alongside subjects such as Science.
Even if we should include religious beliefs, such as the 6000 year old Earth in a geology class, whose should we include? Only Christianity? Why do they deserve special treatment? Why can't a religion that believes in, say, a Flying Spaghetti Monster be taught alongside it as well?
So yeah, that was the idea behind Pastafarianism.

In my opinion (which is what this blog consists entirely of), school is where you go to learn how the world works, how it pertains to you, what skills you need for a successful and happy life, and obtaining those skills.
It should also be a place for easy access to knowledge. Learning things just for the sake of learning them, in case they are helpful in later life.
Learning about other cultures is like this. Unless you plan to move to a place where that culture is dominant, knowing about other cultures may not really do much in your life. But you may meet someone from that culture, and knowing about their culture can help you make them feel welcome and comfortable.

I'll be honest (which I usually am), I have no idea how it is in America in regards to their education system.
But I do think New Zealand schools are lacking from learning about religion.
It shouldn't be taught as "This is what you need to know in the future because we deem you to need to know this because we have proven it right" like Science, but it should be treated like you learn about cultures.
Science is a large defining part of what we know. Religion is a huge part about who we are.
Science, and it's Scientific Method, are the only ways we know of to truly define what is real and what is not. This does not mean it is the only way, it's just the only verifiable way that we know of.
Religion, and their various beliefs, are part of a wide variety of ways to define who we are, what we think, what we want, and where we go.

I think it would be beneficial to all if Religions were taught in schools equal to the way cultures are.
Sadly there would be a dominance on Christianity, because in studying cultures we most commonly study the Western one. So in studying cultures we study the most popular one that we exist in in a day-to-day basis, as we would in studying religion where we study the most common religion that you no doubt will at least interact with most days of your life, even if it is just talking to those who are a part of it.


This blog post doesn't really have a message or anything, these were just thoughts in my head, so I decided to type them down. Here are some other random thoughts:
I once typed 94 words per minute and because of that got a free brownie.
I want to wear a dress to school someday.
I should probably be working on some homework right now.
And then I should probably have a shower.
I dislike pineapple.




P.S: "Religious Studies" as they are probably commonly refered to throughout the world, should only be taught to those who are willing to hear. They should be able to choose if they want to learn about religions or not, but they shouldn't be able to choose what religions. That would lead to further cultural biases, such as all Muslims are terrorists, which they are obviously not.

You Are Such An ASTTL

In New Zealand (I do not know about other countries) at the start and end of every year there are ASTTL tests, to determine what you can and can't do. Not to decide how your year will go, but to help teachers teach you better. I digress, today it was a writing test. I am particularly proud of mine:


I break consciousness, and immediantly start thinking. 'Urgh. What happened to me last night? I was at a bar. I remember, I remember nothing. Wait, nothing much. I remember a woman. She had ginger hair? No, she was carrying ginger beer. That must have been something strong she slipped into it, I'm having trouble doing anything!'

I stand up, stagger a little bit and immediantly fall face first into what I first think is water. Before I drown myself or otherwise, I force myself to sit up. What am I trying to accomplish? Where am I? Why did this woman I so vaguely remember spike my drink? So many questions... all I'm certain of is the rain hitting the back of my head. Wait a minute, that's not rain... rain would be more spread out. This is only hitting one spot, like a stream of something... Urgh! It's all warm. Is it.. no it can't be... it's urine!?

So I stand up and turn around. Which was a wise move, since the stream of what I am beginning to suspect is urine hits me in the eye. I immediately step aside and try and find something to throw at whatever is doing me this disrespect. I manage to find a coconut, of all things. I throw it at where I think the urine is coming from, and I hear a thunk. I open my eyes and see something brown scarpering off through branches of a tree. What are these trees? Let's see... tall, ferns at the top, coconuts on them? I think they are palm trees. What are palm trees doing in central New York?

Wait a moment. I look back around at what I first thought was water when I fell into it. Yup, it's water. But it's stretching away for miles! I'm either on an island, or a beach. Or even a beach on said island. Ow my head hurts. Got to try and stop thinking. Or drinking. That works to. I look down at what I am wearing, still what I wore last night. Well, what I think I wore. What I think I thought I wore while drunk. Man I hate hangovers. Or is this the remnants of whatever that woman put in my drink? It's hard to tell. Looking over at the sun, it looks like either early morning or late evening. I'll have to wait a bit before I can tell either.

Since I have no idea what I could do, I look around for the coconut I threw at that urinating monster. Not finding it, I stride through the forest of what I am currently 90% sure are palm trees. I move my gaze around the canopy, looking for any signs of that little brown devil. Since I'm such a genious (I can use sarcasm in my thoughts? Brilliant!), letting my gaze wander means I am not looking where I am going. So, I walk into something wooden. Deciding the best course of action in this event, I fall over clutching my leg, which was what collided with this object in my path. I roll around a little bit, grunting in agony. Well, at least I learnt something new today. Walking into things can hurt. A lot.

Looking at the object which was previously unnoticed, it seems to be a sign. I doublecheck my hands, since in my current state of either being in a hangover or suffering from the lasting remnants of a drug, I have forgotten in which direction lies left, and in which lies right. After my reassurance, I look again at the sign. It's pointing right. Right, let's see what it's for. It has a picture of a... beer mug? Why on earth is there a sign pointing to a beer mug around here? It looks strangely yellow....

After staring at the sign for a few more minutes, pondering on an odd yellow beer mug, I notice there is some writing next to it. It says “Go this way to find the magical Golden Beer Mug”. Sounds stupid, why would someone make a beer mug out of gold, and I'm certain there is no such thing as magic anyway. But, since I've lost the annoyance which pissed in my face, I have no other option but to go where this sign points. Thinking about it, I realise I could try to find out where I am, but that sounds like to much effort.

So, I walk to my right. Good thing I did, because a few minutes later I come across a little brown thing sitting in a tree, with something that is an even darker brown sitting in it's hand. I dodge out of the way just in time, it flinged the small object in my direction. From what little I remember from my schooling years, which at the moment feels like half a century ago (I'm pretty sure they're actually 10 or so years ago), I'm pretty sure it's a monkey. I've never liked monkeys, they seem absolutely useless. But this one has a use, it's use is to make my life a misery by flinging poop at me. I'm guessing it was also the thing that pissed on me earlier.

I pat myself down, looking for the coconut used earlier. Damn, I lost it after I threw it the first time. No, I didn't lose it, it appears the monkey now has my coconut in his hand. I realise this to late, as the monkey throws it at me with much more force than I previously thought monkeys could use. It strikes me right in the forehead, and I'm losing consciousness. Yay, I've always loved losing consciou.....