December 28, 2007

Way to Ruin “philia” for the Rest of Us

I saw a word that ended with "philia" the other day and got grossed out. Then, I realized that this word had nothing to do with little kids. Pedophilia has ruined a perfectly good suffix. "Philia" - meaning friendship, affection, brotherly love has now been corrupted. But, most people have friendly affection for children, so perhaps we need to give child molestors a new name. It's the suffix "eros" that actually means sexual love. So, shouldn't a child molestor be called a pederos? Of course, that might hurt his chances of getting into the Mexican Hall of Fame too? ...anyone get that one?
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December 27, 2007

Why Are Most Theists “Conservative”?

I realize this is a different question than I asked yesterday. But, I realized that they require two very different answers, and I only have theories for today's wording. Do theists align themselves with "conservatism" because "conservatism" tends to desire the legislation of a similar morality that they align themselves with? Or, in this country, where "theist" means Christian in 90% of cases, do Christian's simply have an inherent appreciation for the power of freedom?
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December 26, 2007

Why Are Most “Conservatives” Theistic?

I work in Chicago, and as such, am immersed in a fairly liberal working environment. However, Ayn Rand's, "Atlas Shrugged" has been making its way around my office, not from me mind you. And the ideas are sticking. People are getting it. For those of you unfamiliar with Rand, amidst her objectivist, free-market philosophy lies a very intrinsically woven atheistic outlook. Which frankly, I wonder if that is one of the reasons it has been so successful in this liberal audience. Rand separates Christianity from Conservatism. This stemmed a question from one of my coworkers the other day, "Why are most 'conservatives' theistic?" I await your theories, and will offer mine tomorrow.
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December 21, 2007

I Am America

Let's say I find a handsome, well-spoken man with no real opinions on anything. He's up for believing anything we tell him to believe. Our goal is popularity. We want him to run for President as the populist candidate. What would we tell him to believe in that would sit well with the majority of the public? Let's start brainwashing. Pick your issues, and speak the populist platform.
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December 20, 2007

To Fix a Stranger’s Brokeness

I wish I could hug strangers. There was a lady walking out of my health club today softly sobbing. I couldn't ask her what was wrong. I couldn't give her a hug. I couldn't help patch the broken. Because I'm a weird stranger. How could I help in this situation? What could I do?
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December 19, 2007

Huckawho?

Mike Huckabee is now the national front runner for the Republican party. Why? I was out for lunch with some people from work yesterday, and they mentioned Chuck Norris. So, I asked how many people had seen the Chuck Norris / Mike Huckabee commercials? ...blank stares...then, a "Huckawho?" No one knows who this guy is. And yet, all of a sudden, he jumps to the lead? Why? Because he's the only GOP candidate who talks openly about his faith. And apparently, that's all it takes. But, that doesn't change the fact that this guy will get demolished in a national election.
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December 19, 2007

Ideas = Spam?

So, I was banned from posting for the last few days, because Blogger thought this blog was being used for spamming purposes... Obviously, someone saw my recreational shrink-wrapping idea, and wanted to shut me down before I cashed out. Nice try. I apologize for the inconvenience. You can expect regular thought-provocation to resume shortly.
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December 14, 2007

Balancing Freedom with Responsibility

"We need to protect children." "Adults should be free to do whatever they want." "I am my brother's keeper." All of these statements have merit, but they can also contradict each other. So, how do we protect people from themselves without extinguishing liberty? And what it comes down to is, who are we responsible for? Should we stress individual responsibility? Familial responsibility? Or collective responsibility? and why?
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December 13, 2007

The Power of Words

Legislating morality sounds bad, right. The phrase implies inflicting someone's personal beliefs regarding morality on others. However, we regulate behavior all the time. Stealing, murder, kidnapping, rape. All wrong. Not much argument. However, these are still personal beliefs. They are just populist beliefs. So, does the only trouble come when a political party tries to criminalize something that's not universally frowned upon?
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December 12, 2007

Recreational Shrink-Wrapping

So, we have a client that sells shrinkwrapping devices for packaging. You put the package in this machine, it spins around really fast, and the package gets completely and instantly shrink-wrapped. Here's my idea for expanding their market. Why only shrink-wrap packages? Why not people? I think certain people (aka - freakshows) would enjoy getting spun around and shrink-wrapped. Then, we could throw them in a Chuck'E Cheese ball pit afterwards. Or set up an obstacle course or something. This has got to be a hundred-dollar idea just waiting to happen.
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