Desire is the Key to Success

Most papers on the subject of the divide between the rich and the poor will be arguments of the same nature. They probably lament on the situation of the poor and destitute and provide some arguments on how to solve the problem of poverty in America. However, I am not going to go that route. I am going to argue that desire is the key to defeating poverty in America. Understanding how desire is the key to winning the war on poverty is to visit Erwin Schrodinger and Schrodinger’s Cat.

Quantum Mechanics is the theory of the very small: it is a theory that tries to describe the nature and the world of the Atom. While Doctor Einstein changed the world with his theory of Relativity: both the Special Theory and the General Theory; Erwin changed the world with his thought experiment. Erwin Schrodinger didn’t think that the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics actually described what happened. He though that the Copenhagen Interpretation left out the importance of Man’s own nature and Man’s interaction with nature. So he proposed a thought experiment.

The thought experiment went like this: your cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the a device that includes a Geiger counter, an atom of a radioactive substance that perhaps in the course of an hour it decays. But also with equal propability, it does not decay. If it does decay, the device discharges and through a relay shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives and no atom has decayed. The function of this system would express itself by having in it the living and the dead cat mixed or smeared out in equal parts.

Erwin also proposed that these cases that an indeterminacy originally restricted to the atomic domain is transformed into macroscopic indeterminacy, and can be resolved by direct observation. In short, Erwin was proposing that the state of the cat: alive or dead, was dependent on our beliefs. When Erwin Schrodinger presented this publicly, he was treated as a pariah and was eventually forced to recant his thought experiment because it proposed that one’s beliefs is a key factor in determining one’s own world. But whether Schrodinger recanted or not, the evidence still stands. Our beliefs and our desires affect our own world in ways that we cannot imagine.

To fight poverty in America, we need to understand how desire and our beliefs actually create our world and how we can consciously create what we desire. According to Schrodinger, a sapient and sentient being is fully capable of shaping his or her world according to his or her desires and beliefs. A sentient and sapient being is effectively someone who is a vibrational being, able to alter the vibrations around him or her to produce a desired result. In fact, a human being or some other sapient is a three part being consisting of the Mind: or Consciousness, the Spirit: or the Subconcious, and the Body: or the Experiencer. Our consciousness creates a desire through a thought, our subconscious brings this into being, and our body experiences this through our five senses. Then we do it all over again, in a never ending cycle of mostly unconscious creation. So, how does this combat poverty?

In America, poverty is treated as a disease or a drug addiction. Many solutions have been proposed to stamp out poverty in the country. Not all of them work because they don’t work from the inside out: they work from the outside in. The solutions include taking the homeless and putting them in shelters. Providing food for them, and making sure they are well fed. So far, no attempt has been made to change their beliefs or their desires for success. They are still impoverished and homeless. After all, he that does not desire wealth will not have wealth.

To actually solve the problem, one needs to realize that desire is the true key to success and one needs to combat poverty on a conscious level. Several key beliefs about money needs to be knocked down among the poor and replaced with new key beliefs. The belief that money is an evil, wicked thing; and that people who have all the money are wicked evil people must be one of the beliefs that has to be replaced by the direct opposite. The belief that money is good, and that the wealthy use their money for good purposes must be held dear in the hearts of America’s poor and destitute.

It is the mission of many success writers to do just this. They combat poverty in America by publishing success books on how to look at money from the angle of the wealthy and thus they are available for everyone to read if they so desire.

Poverty is a problem in America. This is not to be contested, a lot of people see poverty here in America. Putting up homeless shelters, providing debt counseling, and putting up low cost housing will not work in the long run. They are only short term solutions. But if one can change his or her beliefs and desires about money the problem of poverty in America can be and will be solved and everyone will be able to partake of the abundance our land will yield up to us.

Skink

So I bought The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion by Bethesda Softworks the other day and had some fun with it this week. Let me tell you something, it's graphics are amazing. The game's graphics is a lot better than World of Warcraft's. Seriously.

The game has trees swaying in the breeze, rain, wind. . . it's an awesome game. So, I am going to talk to you about Skink.

Skink is my character in TES: Oblivion. As you can probably tell, he is a Lizard Man, or in Wizards' circles -- Lizardfolk ("man" is out of vogue for some reason in academic circles). Anyway, he is a reptoid known as an Argonian in the Elder Scrolls' world of Tamriel.

He is the son of Skink-in-Tree's-Shade: the famous Argonian steward of the Mages' Guild Chapter in Sadirith Mora (in the Imperial Provence of Morrowind). Skink is a 16 year old Argonian who has recently escaped from the Imperial Dungeons, following in the wake of the hero that forged the Staff of Chaos. He also happens to be a spellsword, combining knowledge of fighting with knowledge of magic.

Skink was born in Morrowind, or rather hatched in Morrowind. He has six brothers and sisters from two different creche layings. He was one of twelve, but five had become dead by the pressure of living as an Argonian. Argonians have the same lifespan as Man, living to about 70 years of age (or perhaps longer, living to a maximum of 130 years of age).

Skink grew up, however, away from Morrowind in Cyrodiil, the Imperial Province. His father would tell him stories of the Neverarine, the hero that restored Morrowind to it's proper glory by defeating the evil of Dagoth Ur. How the reborn Neverar would use magic and the sword to defeat his enemies. Inspired by the tale, the eight year old Skink wished for adventures of fame and glory while he was younger, desiring them with all of his heart. He wanted to be like the Neverarine and the Hero of Daggerfall that saved King Lysandus and allowed the Underking to finally die.

Eventually, he went to mage school to train as a spellsword. Skink was a rowdy lot with a lot of talents but no outlet. He tried to show everyone his abilities and what he could do. He eventually turned twelve and entered puberty while on his studies. He also discovered masturbation and would often rub his penis for the good feelings.

When Skink was fourteen, he had made a lot of enemies and even found romance for a time in an argonian teen named Cee-ja. Skink was not very popular growing up. As penalty for being too smart, Skink would be the brunt of bullying. One of the bullies that picked on him was a Breton boy named Jasper. Jasper and his cronies would often tease and bully Skink, driving his self confidence down into the ground (Skink has a low Personality rating: 30 [that roughly corresponds to a Charisma of 8]).

empowering to Skink. Skink effectively turned hOne day, while Skink was swimming, Jasper and the gang stole his clothes. Skink was forced to walk back to the Mages Guild completely naked. Although everyone laughed at him, and the humiliation was supposed to result -- Skink didn't have any trouble at all taking it. He walked naked in stride. He enjoyed his own nakedness, even though it caused many a jeer or even a threat. What was supposed to be an exercise in power by Jasper and his group turned out to beis ideas around about nudity. Skink from then on did not think about nudity as "bad" or "humiliating." But ultimately as a symbol of freedom and power is what nudity became for him.

The bullying stopped, for a while. Jasper and Skink even became good friends. Eventually, Jasper converted to skink's nudism and became a nudist. However, the both of them had their fortunes change.

Both Jasper and Skink were involved in a bar fight. The fight had turned into a royal brawl. Who knows what started it, just that both Jasper and Skink were involved. The ruckus had turned so disorderly that the Imperial City Watch was called in and everyone was arrested and eventually tried and jailed.

Skink hated the jail, he hated his cell, he hated his neighbor who would always tease him, and he hated everything for a period of two years. Eventually, Jasper was found innocent and let go. Jasper hoped for a reunion, but he left the prison. Skink was left, being tormented by his Dark Elf prison mate across the way. Skink also hated his clothes. He hated wearing them and he hated not seeing the sun.

Until that fateful day.

Roleplaying Skink: I'm roleplaying Skink as a Hoplite in the grand tradition of the Athenian hoplites during the Golden Age of the Greek City State. He fights naked except for his sword and his shield and his helmet. He also adventures naked, like Herakles, Iason, Theseus, and Perseus did in the Greek Mythological cycle. Skink enjoys masturbating his penis, though. Mostly because he can't find a companion - wife? - that would like him.

He is also, mostly by accident, the Lord Earl of Battlehorn Castle. Boy, do I have a tale to tell about that one! :D Skink is a Greek Hero, but mostly by accident. Looking over the Oblivion Walkthru, however, it seems that ultimately Skink's tale will have a bit of tragedy in it.

An Atlantis in Eberron?

Well, its not impossible, actually. A city under the sea is a staple of the Genre. Keith and Wizards describe such a sunken city under the Aventi Isles near Sarlona. Called Aventi, it's Eberron's answer to Atlantis.

Not that anyone would try to go there, but it's there. Under the waves. Just waiting for a couple of intrepid explorers from Khorvaire to explore. It's nothing personal, just a way to spend a good couple of weekends looking around for an ancient civilization. After all, what will you expect to find? A stargate? :D

National Association of Photoshop Professionals

I joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals today. Call me crazy, call me anything you want, I just joined them. I joined them to get a discount on Matt Kloskowski's book on layers. Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature, which you can get for $23.99 as a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. For the price of signing up, I've got some nice benefits. Like watching back episodes of Photshop User T.V. at any time I like. I even get issues of Photoshop User Magazine (YAY!).

Next Time: Schrodinger's Cat -- Doing a report on the Thought Experiment that changed Quantum Physics.

Manufactured Beauty

The Next Part of exploring Photoshop is the manufactured beauty. I can enhance the beauty of models taken in a photograph now. So, this means that all beauty shots you see in magazines, including the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, is potentially manufactured.

For instance, take this photo of a Latina I recently purchased from Canstockphoto. It's a perfect photo to work in manufactured or enhanced beauty. She has a few flaws that can be edited out and worked out with the CloneStamp tool. Notice the large mole on her body and the mole on her face.

Although at the time of this writing, I already have Photoshop opened and ready to use. In fact, I used Photoshop to change the DPI of this picture from 300 (print quality) to 72 (screen quality). So, lets use the Clone Stamp tool to first remove the blemishes to make her more presentable for certain magazines.

1. I revert the Photo back to it's original size (from 72 DPI to 300 DPI). And I first go into my layers palette and clone the background as it's own layer. This insures that the editing I do is non-destructive to the original photo.

2. I first zoom on the first blemish, the large mole on her body, and select the clone stamp tool. With the first blemish removed, I can work on the bigger blemish.

3. I zoomed in on the mole on her face. Again, using the clone stamp tool, I proceed to erase it.

With these two erased, the photo now looks like this:

But I am not finished enhancing her yet. I can increase the size of her eyes to make her look much more cute. Still working from the Layer, I proceed to enhance her eyes.

4. I create a mask around her left eye, and then port it over to its own layer.
5. Next, I use the Free Transform tool to ever so slightly make her eyes bigger.
6. With that complete, I proceed to combine the Enhanced Beauty layer with the two eye layers.

Now, I venture to take care of any blemishes at once by enhancing the beauty over all using Smart Filters.

7. By setting up two gaussian blurs: one to darken and one to lighten. I then set the pixelation to about 10, and work with the median noise filter to set up some noise at 12 pixels.
8. Using a Brush to brush out some areas I want to show through on the layer mask, I proceed to do her eyes and her lips and other areas I want to show through. Like her belly button.
9. Finally, I reduce the opacity of the smart filters which creates a softened effect.
10. Keeping her smart filters in the orginal PSD, I get this result:

So, since I have manufactured beauty with Photoshop, changing a true unadulterated picture of a woman ready for the gym into a photo that is magazine ready, you can see for yourself how beauty is manipulated and enhanced for the printed page.

The Athenian Democracy

The Athenian Democracy

By Elton Robb


The Athenian Democracy is one of the models our Republic was founded on. For the people of Athens, Democracy gave power to the demos. Which means, power to the people, power to the village, and power to the Assembly. How the Athenian Democracy worked was that a citizen, which was typically an Athenian man of Athenian parents, could participate in the Assembly and add his voice to government affairs.

How the democracy worked was that it was divided into a number of branches, all served by the people of Athens. The branches of the Athenian Democracy included the Assembly, the Council of Five Hundred, and the People’s Court. These three main branches were supplemented by other branches of the Democracy. These other branches are the Council of the Areopagus, the Archons, and the generals. Each had a role to play. Legislation was carried on by the Assembly and the Council, with committees of lawmakers or lawyers presenting new laws for review. While the archons and the generals played a role in the Athenian Democracy, they were servants of the Demos. Unlike how our republic works now, where the President of the United States is chief of the Executive Branch and represents our nation to the world, the Archons who acted as President served the people.

In the Assembly was where the real power of an Athenian Democracy was held. The Assembly (or Ekklesia, the word where Ecclesiastes comes from) was the regular gathering of Athenian men who enacted their duties as part of the Legislative branch. In the Assembly the citizen voted on decrees that affected every aspect of Athenian life. Including your public life and your private life. They also voted on decrees that dealt with matters of commerce, finance, religion, war, festivities, and treaties with foreign powers such as Egypt or Israel. In the Assembly, you had an opportunity to speak your mind and to exercise your voting rights daily. It seems to be the perfect government. But no government is perfect.

Every government has its dark side. A democracy is no exception. In our republic, we send representatives to Washington to represent the Voice of the People in each of our three branches of Government: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. We often do not know what goes on in Washington, unless you want to watch C-SPAN for much of the day. Thus we have no idea what sort of laws are being passed. The Athenian Democracy is worse than our Republic. Since all the power is held by the People, at any one time the people can turn on a citizen and try him for false crimes.

It was by the will of the people that Socrates was murdered by hemlock. After being defeated by Sparta, the Athenians looked for anyone to lay the blame of their defeat on. They chose Socrates. A man who was ugly by Athenian standards, who dressed like a pauper, and debated like any expert citizen. Socrates, who revolutionized philosophical thought, was the scapegoat for Athens defeat.

So, the qestion is: is a pure Athenian Democracy a government that can work in our day? The answer is no. The Athenian Democracy can only work if a bare maximum of two hundred thousand citizens are participating. The Athenian Democracy is a flawed government when dealng with populations as large as the United States of America. A true Democracy is grossly inefficient for our day and our time. Our government was framed as a Republic, meaning we elect representatives to represent us in our government. Although inefficient, our government does not depend on three million citizens to provide a voice. However, the Athenian Democracy did work, as it is a form of mob rule. In today’s world, with so many people in government seeking power over others, the truly efficient form of government is government of one’s own self.

Caesarism, Two Cows . . .

After being exposed to the "two cows, government" website, I thought I'd do some more.

Under Julius Caesar, you have two Cows. You raise them for the glory of Caesar, who comes along and takes them for the glory of the Republic. When you protest, Caesar explains that he's the Master of them all.

Under Augustus Caesar, you have two cows. Caeser says that your cows are better than any other cows because they are morally upright and worship the old cow gods. He also makes you proud to have your cows, because you no longer have to take care of them. although he takes care of them, while cow talking to the cow council for advice. The cow council thinks they are in charge, while Augustus owns all the cows.

The Athenian Democracy, two Cows . . .

In an Athenian Democracy, you have two cows. You want bigger pasture, so you and your friends go to the assembly to vote on whether to allow you to expand your pasture for your cows.

In an Athenian Democracy gone bad, you have two cows. Your friends are jealous that you have the cows so they vote to take your cows away. They also make up a charge that your herding methods are corrupting the Athenian Youth, so they vote to make you drink Hemlock.

Under Libertarian thought, you have two cows. Your libertarian friends will fight for your rights to keep your cows.

Under the extreme radical feminism: you have two cows. The feminazis come along and convince your cows that they are bulls.

Come to Atlantis

Atlantis Returns . . . Come to Atlantis, the Lost Continent. . . .

I am working with Storn Cook to illustrate my vision of Atlantis. A place of fantastic imagination and energy in motion. Storn is a fantasy artist. Here's an example:

The picture is that of the Magian, a character in the Birthright Campaign Setting. The Magian is an awnshegh lich, meaning he's an undead character with the blood of a god pumping through his veins. As you can tell, Storn Cook is a good artist. With a few good things

And now, a final review of Atlantis campaign and Roleplaying Game options:


ATLANTIS: THE SECOND AGE!

Note: This is not a playtest review.

Atlantis the Second Age is a beautiful book on the Second Age of Atlantis, the lost civilization described by Plato. It also happens to be a Roleplaying Game and it uses the Omni System.

Written by Scott Agnew, Atlantis the Second Age is a roleplaying game based off of the Bard Games' original -- Atlantis the Second Age. I never played the original game, so I can't say how faithful it actually is to the original version.

the cover itself is a gorgeous cover. Queen Isis in the foreground, with part of the Atlantean city behind her. The book details many civilizations from those in North America to those in ancient China and Khemit (Egypt).

The omni system is easy enough to play, with a few additions from the d20 System (3.5 of course). It's also faster than the d20 system, by all appearances. You still use the d20 die, making it a d20 system before the d20 system was devised by WotC.

The magic system is more inventive, you can produce magic effects based on how you want them to manifest. If you want a spell that makes flames of fire lift objects without burning them, by all means you can do so. There is no hard and fast rules to the magic system in Atlantis: the 2nd Age.

After this, a beastiary is included. The bestiary includes everything from Animal men (andamen) to the makera or tritons. So, in short the book has everything you need to play in Atlantis, the Second Age.

Gordon B. Hinckley Died

President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.

President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.

The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.

Brother Gordon Bitner Hinckley was a great man. He was definitely a prophet, as mighty as Moses, Elisha, and Simon Peter. He enjoyed service to the Church for most of his life: having given many of the Proclamations to the World from the Messiah. As the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Messiah's own church, he presented the Church to the world. From the time he was President, many temples had been built -- exploding from very few to 132 Temples across the world (one in Ghana, one in South Africa, one in Boston, one in Hong Kong, one in New York City, etc.). Even though he didn't live to see the Jerusalem LDS Temple built (which is forthcoming and to be built by Latter-day Saints) his actions will lead for that to be built.

He presided over an Era of Temple Building, and the explosion of the Internet, and an era of increased faith and spiritual awakening all over the world. He was one of the greatest men today, as Theologian in Chief (not Commander in Chief). So, who will be the new President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? President Thomas Monson.

Body Acceptance

A new week, a new Adventure!

From what I learned this past week, produces a lot of questions and some needed answers. Anyway, I'll talk about that as I learn some more information. On to a better topic -- Body Acceptance!

Did you know that Jennifer Love Hewitt has been called "FAT?" She is a size 2, and no way can Jennifer Love Hewett be fat. She decided to fight back, and tell everyone that she's a healthy size 2.

There has been some good news on the Body Acceptance front, and not just my fellow naturists have been trumpeting the news. There is one thing about having a beautiful woman who is healthy: 150 pounds/68 kilograms is generally an acceptable weight. Tyra Banks, the famous Supermodel, is part of a movement to get women curvier again. She wants to make curvy women feel better about themselves.

So, is pencil thin something to be attracted to? I don't think so. Queen Latifah looks great because she also accepts her figure as normal. As for me, I prefer a woman with a healthy body wieght: 150 lbs/68 kg is good enough. Or at least somewhere in that range. And yes, a size 2, 3, or 4 -- or even 7, isn't fat.

Prepaid Legal

Hello everyone!

I recently reacquired a membership with Prepaid Legal to help me weather the storms of Real Life (Legal-wise). Prepaid Legal is Legal Insurance -- according to the idea, you'll get the assurance of having legal counsel everyday and any day. And a legal shield against any legal infractions made against you. I think this is awesome. Especially now, since minor infractions of justice can or will crop up against me. I recommend to you all to find your local Prepaid Legal agent and sign up immediately.