No To "World Peace"

[Tell you why next time.[12-10-2008]]

[12-12-2008]

What is "world peace"?

Is it the absence of war? No hunger? All in harmony, no unemployment? No one being beaten up, everyone telling everyone else his secrets? No hate all love?

No matter. No one, I believe, has defined it definitely. It's a combination of all of those above and more. There's something about "world peace" that we can't quite get a hold of.

Utopia, right? Paradise. Uh-huh. But, then, we also don't really know what these concepts are.

That's the trouble with "world peace". We don't know what it is. We know some parts of it, but we don't know it fully. And yet we ask for it. So in that regard,

"I want world peace"

becomes a futile statement. It's wishing for something that we don't know about.

It's like being a big boss in a big corporation, having your own big spiffy office and asking your assistant to make you a coffee, "and make it taste like paradise, please".

How do you make coffee that tastes like paradise? I mean, how absolutely -- in the sense that if anyone else tasted it, he will say, "Wow! Utopian coffee!"?

Can your assistant make it?

No.

Can you make it?

You can't.

And, THAT, for me, is the whole trouble with that "I want world peace" sort of thing. Yeah, sure, everyone can dream. Dream on. Dream on forever. (As if you know whether forever exists at all.)

But, then here's another thing: There are dreams that you can achieve and those that you cannot achieve. There are those that you are aiming for and there are those that you really don't care about whether they become true or not -- after all, dreams are free, right? Cheap. Happy thoughts in your head. Wow. It's like The Matrix* in your head. "Ignorance is bliss."

So, believe me, if you "want world peace", you don't care if it becomes true or not. Because, ultimately, you believe so very subconsciously that it's impossible. Because you can't define it.

Wishing for something to happen that you believe can't happen is to absolve yourself from the responsibility of making it happen.

Why?

Because, as I've said, you know that you can't make it happen.

And in that regard, it only means that you want others or someone else to do it for you.

"I wish for world peace" is like saying "Give me world peace" (whoever the recipient of that statement is) -- it's a command, not a statement for action.

So, okay, let's try to define "world peace" again.

It's a condition where everyone respects the rights of others. (support Amnesty International Philippines)

It's where no wife or child or husband is abused. (Stop Violence Against Women, Bantay Bata 163, MenWeb)

No one gets to be a victim of land mines. (go ahead, Adopt-A-Mine)

Guns are not used for homicide, murder, coercion... (Control Arms)

Everyone has decent shelter and living condition. (try Habitat For Humanity, Kiva, ABS-CBN Foundation)

Everyone respects the environment. (support Greenpeace)

There is no corruption in politics and business. (UN Global Compact on Transparency and Anti-Corruption, "No to Corruption" campaign by the UN Convention Against Corruption)

One religion for all, or all religion in harmony, or no religion at all. (practice Religious Tolerance)

Everyone eats well. (serve Food Not Bombs, Say No To GMOs!***)

+FEEL FREE TO ADD MORE+ :')

However you define world peace, if you want it, don't look too much at it as a whole. Look at it in parts. Dissassemble your previous vague or ambiguous definition of that concept and work on those parts instead.

We'll all be better off with you not wishing for world peace but making, say, everyone's hair beautiful all year round**.

So

Screw "World Peace".

'cos there's something better ;') -->DOING SOMETHING for world peace.

[Now you know.

And knowing is half the battle. G.I. Joe. (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra live-action movie slated for release in 2009 :'p)]

_________

*For those who haven't understood the concept of the movie The Matrix (as I haven't on my first viewing :'p), it's about the enslavement of humans by the machines. A war waged between humans and machines; humans cut off the machines' power supply, we were defeated, the machines discovered that our bodies are like batteries (Duracell). So they harvested us for power, created/cloned/grew us in their power farms, and in order for our psyche to not reject the whole setup, machines programmed a dreamworld and fed these into our brains, a dreamworld that we accept.

Rage against the machine.

**No complaints against my barber/hairstylist :'p Just an example. After all I've been my own hairstylist for over 6 monhts now. Hah!

***GMOs=Genetically Modified Organisms, a.k.a. GEO=Genetically Engineered Organisms, a.k.a. GM or GE. Present GMOs are a threat to health, to the environment, and to small farmers; and benefits only governments, large corporations, and other immoral or unethical individuals and organizations.

Perfection and God

What really is perfection?
Is it the absence of flaw and of failure?
By human terms, it is. But is God bound by our definition of it? Is God even bound by any of our definition of anything at all? I do not think so.

By human definition of the concept of perfection, the human body is imperfect; human existence on Earth is imperfect; the ways of dying to go to Heaven are imperfect; even Crysis is imperfect!

Is perfect existence the absence of suffering? Or is real perfect existence actually a combination of suffering and comfort?

Are we truly unworthy of putting God in our imperfect minds or is thinking about Him in an "imperfect" human noggin the perfect case?

Why do we keep on arguing that imperfect, ugly events and creations mean a cruel, nonchalant, or even nonexistent God?

Because we really don't know what actual perfection is. Like the uncertainty we have of the real power of brightness of stars as viewed from Earth -- evidenced by the terms apparent and absolute magnitude -- how can we surely say that our view of perfection is "absolutely" what we believe it to be?

The Grim Adventures of... The Avengers?

I have a copy of The Last Avengers Story. (henceforth "TLAS") [The Avengers is a comic book super hero group, with a roster that includes or included the Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America.] It's in two parts, but I only have the first issue. I got it at a bargain from a Booksale stand, I think, and I have since looked for the second issue, but haven't found one. So I continued looking for it, in digital form now, however, and on the 'Net. This morning I did so again. And I stumbled upon a website summarizing the story.

[This reminds me... I'm waiting for the next Marvel movies: on Thor and Captain America. Initially, although I was expecting that Marvel is setting things up for one of the biggest -- if not THE biggest -- movie event in human history (more on this later), I didn't see the pattern; but I've now realized that they're really setting up the stage for The Avengers on the silver screen. Hopefully it would be on IMAX 3D. Wow. with the right crew, it would truly be historical. Of Star Wars and Matrix standards]

[see Avengers on Wikipedia; see Avengers on their official Marvel website]

Now, I also watch the Cartoon Network, and one of my favorites was The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. It's a story of "Happy-go lucky Billy and cynical Mandy [who] become best friends with the Grim Reaper after winning an otherworldly limbo contest against the messenger of Death."


Now, what's with this blog entry? Well, I learned through Jay's Notes on the TLAS summary I've mentioned earlier that "The Grim Reaper is actually Billy, the other twin of the Scarlet Witch and Vision.**" In TLAS, the Grim Reaper is a main villain. That certain Billy in the Marvel Universe is William "Billy" Kaplan, a.k.a. Wiccan, twin brother of Thomas Shepherd, son of separated Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) and Vision.

Billy the Grim Reaper. Hmmm...?



____________
*all images, characters and logos trademark and copyright their respective owners.
**Scarlet Witch and Vision = take note that there are three versions of Scarlet Witch and two versions of Vision based on my research on the Marvel website. See here: Marvel Universe characters list Q-R (for "Scarlet Witch") and U-W (for "Vision")

Dreams and promises

Promises are free.

And dreams are made to be broken.

Just something I thought about.

Just so I can say that I'm a thinking man.

But I have feelings too.

How could you? Hu, hu, hu...

See?

='p

Here We Go Again (HWGA) - E-mail Hoax 1

I've seen a lot of e-mail hoaxes being forwarded to my e-mail or Friendster inboxes or to various bulletin boards that I visit.

This time, I received one from one of my Yahoo! Groups pals. So I decided to write this stuff. I know there are a lot more sites out there that offer the same service of Internet hoax slaying [one of which is Hoax-Slayer] -- actually the info I'll post here will be from those sources -- I'm doing this for everyone who's following me on my blog (dreams are free).

Although this is the first entry I've made of this sort (but I'm planning to make this into a "series"), I dubbed this as "Here We Go Again" because, as mentioned, I've received countless e-mails from well-meaning family and friends who thought that the e-mail warnings and offers were true. No harm in that, really. At least I know what hoaxes are circulating at the moment and how people respond to them.

So, here we go. Again. But, for the first time.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/olympic-torch-virus-hoax.html

Olympic Torch Invitation Virus Hoax

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/olympic-torch-virus-hoax.html

[Do not click on the above links! Or all your hard drive partitions will be wiped out!]

[Here's an excerpt from Hoax-Slayer]

[Read at your own risk!]

_ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _

Olympic Torch Invitation Virus Hoax

Summary:
Message claims that an email with an attached file called "Invitation" contains a virus that will open an Olympic Torch that destroys the computer's hard drive (Full commentary below.) 

Status:
False

Update:
A new version of the hoax email falsely claims that the information in the message has been verified by Hoax-Slayer.com and Snopes.com (details below).

Update:
February 2008 - Yet another version claims that an email with an attachment entitled "POSTCARD" will destroy the hard drive of the infected computer. (Read an article about the Postcard Image Virus Hoax)

Example:(Submitted, February 2006)

WARNING

You should be alert during the next days: Do not open any message with an attached filed called "Invitation" regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.

If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately.

This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept. SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW, COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US

_ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _ ___ _

- - - There are lots more on the Hoax-Slayer site - - -

Here's the result of my Google search of the words "virus" and "invitation"

[Take note: I haven't even included the word "hoax" there]

If the links don't work try this one:

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=virus%20invitation&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[Please disable your anti-virus software before visiting the links above]

[If you paid serious attention to the bold words in red in between the square brackets, like this one, it's likely that you may have already been a victim. Of a hoax!]

Gullibility is a choice. Mostly just out of laziness.

'till next time!

Here I go.